Blast To The Past
by Kid Zatanna
Summary: Zatanna is trapped in the past where she finds an unexpected ally.
1. Through The Looking Glass

A Blast To The Past

A Fanfic By Kid Zatanna

This fanfic uses charicters owned by DC Comics and other companys and therefore is ONLY for entertainment, not sale. The persons and events depicted here are fictional, not real. (Darn it)

I had been thinking about this story for some years after reading a World's Finest story where Zatanna had an adventure that reminded me of a certain detective. Checking some other storys in the DC comics along with other sources, I was able to make a connection between the two and said "Why not?" I think it makes scence.

I'm not sure where this would go in the COMICS section, but since I intend to incorporate elements from the JUSTICE LEAGUE and JUSTICE LEAGUE UNLIMITED (As well as the old Superfriends) cartoons later, I suppose it'll fit here in CARTOONS. If you guess the identity of Zee's new friend before the "big finnish", please pretend it's a surprise.

UPDATE: I had to change the date from Oct. 15th to Oct 23 because the detective who will appier in the next chapter was woking on a case on the 13th and several days after that.

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Being a superhero (Or superheroine) has a lot of perks, but it also carries a lot of resonsibility. It's not just the duty to the community and your peers, you must also keep yourself and your powers/talents/equipment in top form and keep up with the latest developments, techniques and news. Plus, you have the same obligations as "normal people", that is, paying bills and keeping your homelife in order. Only a few supers could do this and others have all but abandoned the duel identity lifestyle, turning their "hobby" into a carreer. Only a few are lucky enough to have powers that they could apply to a PAYING job.

For instance, there was John Zatara, a stage magician who had discovered that he could wield REAL magic and fought crime, spies and magical beings. Later in his life, he was forced to leave his home world and settle in another dimention that was simular to his own. So alike were the two worlds, they had to be designated "Earth One" and "Earth Two" for convienient refrence. It was on the former Earth that he met and married Sindella, a wonderful Magi who gave birth to a girl they named "Zatanna".

Zatanna was a delight to her parents, but because of their past, they had to keep the truth from her. John and Sindella lived as "normal" people and Zatanna was brought up to think that magic was nothing more than the tricks her parents performed for the amusement of others.

But sometimes things happened.

Sometimes things happened that made the girl suspect that there was more to that thing we call "reality".

John and Sindella had tried to protect their daughter from the evils that had forced John to leave the world of his birth, but they could not hide forever and Sindella was forced to leave her loveing family. Later, John himself had to hide from his daughter for fear of BOTH their lives! But he had left clues to her heritage that alowed Zatanna to learn the truth that had been hidden from her for so long. And she used that new-found knowlege to rescue her father, makeing friends with some of the greatest heros and heroines on Earth along the way and eventualy, she joined their ranks to battle with her friends against those who would steal property, lives and even, SOULS.

Few people connected the charming magician who performed on stage with the magic-wielding heroine who battled alongside such luminaries as Superman, Wonder Woman and Green Lantern. Those who did, flocked to her shows and left in wonder, unable to decide if she had presented slight-of-hand or REAL magic for their entertainment!

Zatanna!

Mistress Of magic!

Princess Of Prestadigatation!

The weekly JLA meeting had not taken long and Zee had begged off joining the usual after-meeting social period so that she could return to her home and experiment with a device she had aquired late last year.

"Seldnac thgil."

Blue-green eyes roamed around the 11x11 foot room. On the floor was a pentagram made of white and indigo blue tiles. On the cyprus paneled walls were shelves holding books, notes and a few items, some of these items were magic, some had other purposes. This was her "Safe Room", a place that had been re-inforced by materials and magic to withstand and contain any "accidents" that might occur. It was here that Zatanna practiced certain spells or examined and tested newly-aquired magic items.

Tonight she would try something new on a full-leingth floor mirror. The mirror had been willed to her by a witch named "Connie Corning" who had disappiered while flying her airplane through the Bermuda Triangle and except for the mahogany frame, lead crystal glass and sterling silver back, the mirror seemed rather ordinary. However, Connie had discribed to Zee a curious feature of the artifact: the user not only had the ability to view far away places, but could teleport to those places as well! Since the witch's disappierance, Zatanna had spent several sessions with her aquisistion, discovering it's secrets.

Zatanna knelt in the center of the pentagram, adjusted her white cape, raised her arms and softly muttered the spell that activated the mirror. The reflection in the glass twisted and melted into random patterns of shapes and colors. The sorceress watched for a moment then nodded, satisfied that the mirror had been activated properly. Zee then raised her hands again, two fingers and a thumb extended from each.

"Elcaro rorrim wohs em eht tsap," The image started to take on a diffrent pattern and Zatanna pressed her fingers and thumbs together. "Rorrim sucof. Wohs em senecs fo eht Taerg Noisserped!"

Her hands fell into her lap as the mirror became a window on the past. Oddly enough, the scenes in the mirror looked like something you would see in a low-budget movie or TV show; they looked like stock footage shown with a ripple-filter super-imposed over it. The young heroine had to smile with amusement, because this was in fact, EXACTLY the way things looked through a scrying device!

She watched as the soundless views changed randomly and frowned. As with an earlier experiment, her spell had been too vague, the mirror was selecting images from diffrent places and times, sometimes showing events that had occured late in the Thirties before showing those that happened in earlier years. Zee raised her hands again and moved them as she spoke, altering the scenes in the mirror, but still they would change after a few seconds. She would have to stableise the images so that she could view them at her liesure and bring forth only those SHE chose to see. Takeing in a long breath, Zatanna touched the "red bug" in her hair "for luck" (Although it had no REAL power) before letting her breath out slowly as she spoke another command.

"Ezielbats egami. Dloh no enecs,"

The picture lingered on a view of a hallway in some large building where people were going about their business. Satisfied that it would not shift, Zatanna watched for a moment. Zee liked to see how people in the past lived their lives more than she did the "big and important" events because this gave her a better feel of what life was like before she was born. She had once read a reprint of a Sears Robuck mail-order catalog in which a modern columnist wrote in the introduction about how diffrent we would view Elisibethan England or Imperial Rome if there had been a mail-order catalog from those times for us to view the common, everyday objects and clotheing they used and wore. Zee could not have agreed more and that was just part of why she was working so intently now.

Now to see if she could control the images.

"Weiv egnahc, wohs em... Annaidni no... Rebotco 32, 3391."

Again the scene faded out and faded back in. Once again, the views were changeing randomly as before to show the soceress the day in question. Zee commanded the mirror to zoom in and focus on a calender, the days had been helpfully marked off by someone and confirmed that she had the proper day and year. Zee spoke again and was shown ten second views of the town where the calender was located, each scene shown occurring a half hour after the last, starting before sunrise.

Zatanna continued to watch the olden times unfold before her, enjoying the sight of the strange clothes, cars and landscape. Connie had not mentioned ever haveing sound with the sights, but perhaps Zatanna could fix that. But for now, she was content to watch. In fact, she was watching TOO closely...

The magician was slammed to one side, feeling as if she had been hit by an electric shock! She struggled to her hands and knees with a groan and heard a man's voice.

"Damn! I thought that blast would render you unconcious! Ah well, 'try, try again' and all that. RESTIUM VORLA!"

Zee managed to roll out of the magic bolt's path just in time. The bolt crackled across the pentagram, revieling that it had taken much of the first blast and saved her from the attack. Getting into a half-crouch, Zatanna confronted her attacker.

"Felix Faust!" she snarled. "How DARE you break into my home and attack me!"

"Simply because you have something I want," he stated, nodding towards the oracle mirror. "And unfortunatly, you would try to stop me. Now let's not---"

"Yticirtcele ekirts Tsuaf!"

The bolt lept from the woman's hand, arching toward her foe. But Felix raised his amulet as she began to speak and the blast was deflected, hitting the mirror. Unnoticed by either of the combatants, the image in the glass cleared and came into sharp focus as if it were a window. Or a doorway...

"All that power and still just a stage magician," Faust said mockingly. "Anticipating a confrontation with you, I ordered my amulet to pretect me from your spells. Now why don't you be a good little girl and let me take the mirror? i promass that I will not harm you or your property in any way if you do."

Maybe it was the threat or the "stage magician" crack (Not that there was anything WRONG with her carreer) or being called a "little girl", but Zee was getting mad. Fighting back the impulse to lash out with every spell she knew, Zatanna considered her options. His magic amulet protected him from her magic, so that was out. She could attack him physicly, she DID learn some fighting skills from her adventures, but really didn't have any practical training or experience with hand-to-hand combat. She fenced now and then and there were a few swords in the house, but the room they were in had been designed to prevent magic from entering or leaveing. Nothing could get in or out except through ordinary means, the mirror was the only magical way in or out. Suddenly the solution came to her.

"OK, you crook," she smiled. "If you think you've won, then take it. IF you can!"

"Just watch," he responded, turning the amulet towards the mirror.

"S'tsuaf seohs og pu!"

The supervillian's shoes responded to Zee's command and elevated three feet into the air, bringing the surprised man's FEET with them! As he tried to bring his magic device to bear, the mistress Of Magic spoke again.

"Skoob, sraj, ekirts mih!"

Objects flew from their places on the shelves, slamming into the evil magician. He instinctivly threw up his arms to shield his face and felt a booted foot kick the amulet from his hand. The attack stopped and he lowered his arms to see Zatanna standing over him, smileing as she twirled the magic amulet on it's chain.

"There is one important part of stage magic, sir: MISDIRECTION. You're lucky that I'm the forgiveing type, because I'm not going to hurt you or turn you over to the police. I'm Just going to send you home, allright? But of course, I'll have to keep this little object, you understand, don't you?"

"Of course, in your place, I would do the same," Faust said, shifting his position. "And may I say that you are being most GENEROUS!"

On saying the last wor, the man kicked up into Zee's diaphram, driveing the air from her lungs. The Amulet flew from her fingers, hitting the cieling and landing several feet away. Felix jumped up and grabbed her arm, swinging her around in a full circle. Gasping for air, Zatanna had to run to keep her footing and was flung across the room and INTO THE MIRROR!

The glass shimmered as the magician fell through and returned to a normal-looking reflection when she had fully passed through. At first, Felix was elated by his enamy's defeat, but then he realised that this would work against him.

He knew the propertys of the mirror and knew that it worked both ways; once through the glass, the traveler could use a crystal pendant to return through the mirror. worse, Zatanna had her own means to travel and teleport. Once she regained her breath, she would return anytime, any place she wished. Even now she might be plotting an ambush! Faust decided that he had to get out of this place and make other plans.

Trotting through the halls, Faust entered the liveing room of the old-fashioned house. Here he invoked the spell he had intended to use when he obtained the Oracle Mirror, but this time, it took him back home empty-handed.

Felix was not a coward, but this time he had been too cautious. Had he known where Zatanna had ended up and what awaited her there, he would not only taken Connie's mirror, but he would have looted her home of all it's valuables at his lesure. Fortunatly for Zatanna (and those who would have had to face Felix Faust) it was too late for him to change his mind.

CONTINUED.


	2. A new Friend

A Blast To The Past

A Fanfic By Kid Zatanna

This fanfic uses charicters owned by DC Comics and other companys and therefore is ONLY for entertainment, not sale. The persons and events depicted here are fictional, not real. (Darn it)

As you may have noticed, this fan-fic contains mild language and violence.

I know that Zatanna's tophat and tails are the most popular costume she wears, but I have her in her Perez suit for a very good reason as you shall see in this chapter.

Once again, please pretend that the identity of Zee's new friend is a surprise. Those of you who have read some of my posts on the internet probably know who she is already.

NOTE: I had erred on the date in the first chapter. According to my research, the Detective was working on a case on the 15th of October, 1933. I have changed the first chapter to match this, from now on, Zatanna's adventures in 1933 begin on Oct 23.

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A shimmering rectangle appeared out of nowhere and an oddly-dressed young lady fell out of it backwards, hitting her head on the ground as the portal closed. For a few seconds she didn't move and her breath wheezed harshly as the woman struggled to fill her lungs with precious air. The young woman placed her hand on her chest to feel her pounding heart and waited for it to slow to normal. With one more slow, deep breath, Zatanna turned her head left, then right to take in her surroundings. She found herself in someone's backyard in what seemed to be the middle of the day, there were the typical trappings that included a clothesline and a low wooden fence separating the property from the other yards. The whole place had the old-fashioned look she had expected for the era. Zee turned her eyes to the sky and shook her pretty head.

"Crap."

Sitting up, Zatanna considered her situation; apparently, a stray blast of magic had activated the teleportation feature of the Oracle Mirror and sent her back into the past. She doubted that Felix Faust had planned that move, but he would certainly take advantage of her absence to loot her home of all it's magical items and perhaps take a few of the antiques and jewelry in her collection.

"I wouldn't put it past him to write Satanic verses on my under-wear, that son of a..."

Zee cut herself off and smiled. Going into the past was to her advantage, she realized; technically, Felix had not yet broken into her house! Time was now on HER side! All the magician had to do was return to her proper place in time and resume the fight. But this time, FELIX would be the one taken by surprise, she grinned. Brushing off her white, blue and black body suit and thigh boots, Zatanna stood and stretched out her arms with eyes closed.

"Annataz nruter ot eht erutuf!" She felt a certain warm feeling flow through her as always happened when she used her magic and a second later, opened her eyes.

Nothing had changed.

She frowned and tried again.

"Ekat em ot ym emoh owt sdnoces retfa I tfel!"

Again, the warmth enveloped her. Again NOTHING HAPPENED!

Zatanna looked at her hands. She had felt the magic flow, but something was preventing her spell from doing its job! She pointed at a near-by object.

"Kcirb esir, nrut dna dneced!"

The brick rose from a small pile, turned slowly 180 degrees and returned to its place gently. She tried something else and spoke the command "Kcirb emoceb ssalg," the masonry then became transparent. With the words "Nruter ot lamron" it became a brick again.

"All right, there's nothing wrong with my powers," she said with relief. "So it must be something else."

Felix Faust hadn't done anything to hinder her powers when he was in her home (At least, she didn't THINK so) and she had never had any problems with working magic during her other trips through time, so what was it?

The mirror!

Zee had made three other trips trough the Oracle Mirror as part of her experiments, but on two occasions she had used the crystal pendant to return through the glass. For the third trip, Zatanna had used her own magic for the return home to make sure there would be no problems if she had lost the crystal that had been attuned to the mirror. Since she had only intended to OBSERVE this time, the pendant had been left in the Safe Room hidden in a Japanese puzzle box. But those other journeys had all been done in the present, traveling through time must be different! The magician realized that she had to find another way back. One thought cheered her: the mirror must be here in its past form, it COULD provide a link to its future counter-part!

"But first, I have to find it," Zatanna told herself, looking around. "But that may take years and I need food, a place to live and magic items to aid my search and for that I'll need money. And clothes," she added, running a hand over her costume.

Ordinarily that would not be a problem, she would simply teleport a suitable outfit from her closet at home, but of course, THAT was out of the question. She COULD transform her costume into a suit --the experiment with the brick proved that she could-- but Zatanna had little idea what was fashionable in this era. She knew that women wore mostly skirts and dresses, but her theater training insisted that she do things right. Where did the hem-line go, for instance? At the knees? Below the knees? How far below? Were stiletto heels fashionable? This may have seemed unimportant to the average person, but Zee did not want to draw any attention to herself and have to answer a lot of nosy questions.

Her eyes fell on the clothesline and she smiled. Zee's karma was working for her today! Hanging from the cotton rope were a couple of coats and dresses. It seemed odd that they would be hung to dry in the chilly October air, but as she approached, the answer came to Zatanna with the scent of mothballs. Obviously the owner had taken them out of storage and was airing them out. Zatanna almost laughed as she remembered Captain Kirk's words when he and Commander Spock were in this very same situation: "Well, we'll rob from the rich and give back to the poor... later."

Of course, Zatanna had no desire to deprive her unseen benefactor of her dresses, the sorceress only wanted to examine them so that she could have a pattern to base her magically-altered clothing on. Fingering the wool, she took one down and held it up to herself. The owner was perhaps a half foot shorter than herself, but her experience with costumers in her line of work made it easy to estimate how the dress would fit if it were in her size. The ruffles and bows were rather strange to her late-twentieth century eyes, but she would manage. After all, she had worn fancier costumes both on and OFF stage! Turning to replace the dress and take down the other, Zatanna stopped in her tracks. She stood eye-to-eye with a COP!

Suddenly her karma didn't look too good.

"Well isn't this a fine thing," he observed. "Here I come home to check on my poor sick wife and I find a fancy-dressed BUM stealing her clothes. Oh, I suppose you're going to say that you were just going BORROW them, am I right?"

Zatanna blushed, as a matter of fact; she WAS only going to borrow them just long enough to get an idea of the current fashions. This was an awkward situation, sure Zatanna could zap him to make him forget about her long enough to make a get-away, but she didn't like messing with other people's minds and would do so only if she or others were in peril. Besides, this man was perfectly within his rights, both as an officer of the law and a home owner, he was right to protect his family's property.

The officer pointed at the clothesline and Zee pinned the dress on it. He then continued his speech.

"All right, I know that times are tough and all that, but that doesn't give anyone the right to steal from others. Did it ever occur to you that people have to WORK to get these things? If you robbed a bank, you're just taking the bank's money, right? WRONG! The money belongs to the DEPOSITERS who had to WORK for it. That's a nice brooch," he told her, pointing with his stick. "My wife doesn't have one so nice, but that doesn't mean it would be right for me to... "

Noticing that Zatanna had observed something behind him and had turned her head to look, the cop turned towards the back of his house to see a young woman leaning in the doorway. Wearing a French beret and a Carmel-colored polo coat, she held a small wicker basket over her arm and watched them with an amused smile. Seeing that she had been observed, the blond walked over to the two and greeted the man.

"Hello, Officer Masters. I came to check on your wife and brought a few things from the grocer."

"Oh thank you Miss Nancy, you're a good woman. It's too bad that Dorothy is at school, she's always wanted to meet you."

"Perhaps I will have a chat with her some day," Nancy said. "And I'll get her that book you said she asked for; my publisher said it should come out next week."

The woman looked Zatanna over as she passed behind the magician (Zee remembered that many cultures considered it rude to walk between two people) and Zee returned the gaze with equal interest. (Have you ever met someone for the first time and it seems like you know them already?)

The girl (Woman, actually) looked younger than she was, both her manner and Zatanna's perception told her that. She was five feet, eight inches tall, JUST taller than herself and her hair was a nice honey-blond. The face was "pretty" but not overly so and the one and a half inch scar over her left eye did nothing to detract from her looks (Not to mention her penciled-in eyebrows). The sky-blue eyes paused briefly at Zatanna's throat and seemed to twinkle when she looked at Zee with a smile. It was a nice smile, much like Zatanna's own and the sorceress returned it.

"Won't you introduce me to your friend?" Nancy said to Officer Masters.

"She's no friend of mine; I caught her stealing Kelly's clothes!"

"Oh my goodness!" She said with mock horror, hand to her breast. "How horrible! Well, you should just lock her up and throw away the key!" She stated, starting to leave. "Unless..."

"Yes? Unless what, Miss Nancy?"

"No, it's a silly idea," she murmured, turning over the cloth in her basket as if expecting to find something. "I shouldn't have brought it up."

"No, let's hear it."

Nancy began slowly, as if unsure that the idea was any good. "Well... If you arrest her, you'll have to take her downtown, write a report, appear at the hearing, maybe at a trial too and Kelly's dresses will have to be taken in as evidence. If she's convicted, she'll be put in jail to be fed and clothed and taken care of at the expense of the taxpayer, so it's just one big bother all around." she sighed.

Zatanna noted a smirk form on the cop's face and knew that the two were playing some kind of game with her.

"Do you have a better idea?" He inquired, to which Nancy shrugged.

"Oh... I don't know. I was just thinking... well, you COULD release her into my custody. I could find honest work for her or... something," she concluded, fooling with the basket again.

"Well then, if you want to be saddled with a vagrant, that's YOUR affair, we have enough in the jails as it is," he then turned to Zatanna. "You're very lucky that Miss Nancy came along when she did. I'm putting you in her care and I DON'T want to hear one word about any more trouble from you, understand?"

"Yes sir," the sorceress said, going to the smiling woman.

Nancy took her hand and they walked to the front of the house where a car stood. Zatanna didn't know a whole lot about cars, but could tell that this one was something special. It was the two-door "roadster" type painted green with black fenders and running boards. Two spare tires were fitted behind the front fenders with mirrors on them and the canvas top was up. Also of note was the "Twin 6" logo on the hubcaps and the "Packard" brand name. As Zee admired the car, Nancy tossed the basket inside and took off her coat.

"Here, it's a bit chilly and while your costume is pretty, it really isn't appropriate for wandering about town."

"Thank you, but no. You've helped me when I was in trouble, but I can't impose on your good nature. Thank you, goodbye."

Zee started to walk away, but felt a tug on her cape as soon as she took two steps. Turning, she saw the girl smile as she dropped the cloth.

"But it's no imposition at all!" She insisted. "Besides, didn't you hear Officer Masters when he put you in my charge? I certainly can't neglect my duty! Besides, I'm rather curious as to why you're wearing that rather attractive costume and why you have to steal a dress when you have such expensive-looking jewelry."

Zatanna's hand went to her throat. For some reason the blond was interested in her brooch! Zatanna entered the open door and sat on the black leather seat, her companion taking the seat behind the wheel. The powerful, twelve-cylinder engine roared into life and they were off.

"You know my name, but what's yours?" Nancy asked.

"Zatanna."

"Is that your first or your last name?"

"Zatanna Zatara," the black-haired woman said with a smile. "My friends call me 'Zee'."

"I should have known from your ear ornaments, I hope I can call you 'Zatanna'. Oh I'm sorry," She added quickly. "I didn't mean it that way! I just think that 'Zatanna' is a pretty name."

"It's all right Nancy, you can call me 'Zatanna'," that worthy said kindly. "Excuse me for staring, but have we met before? I have this odd feeling that I should know you."

"Some of my chums say that I look like the movie actress, Toby Wing," Nancy smiled with a twinkle in her eyes. "Perhaps that's why you think you've seen me before."

"Of course, that must be it," Zee replied. That must have been the answer; she must have seen Wing in an old movie. Or perhaps she had even seen Nancy herself in a history book or in a documentary about the Thirties. It was then Nancy's turn to ask a question.

"That's obviously a costume of some sort. Are you a dancer?"

"No, I'm a magician. How do you make ends meet?"

"Oh, I help my father with his law practice; delivering documents, research, interviewing witnesses, that sort of thing. I also do some things on my own, sort of a side line."

"And what does your mother do?"

"Not a whole... a whole lot, she's dead," she replied, stumbling over a joke.

"I'm sorry."

"It's alright, it happened when I was ten. I'm over it now."

Nancy stared ahead with flushed cheeks and Zee knew she was lying.

"My parents are both dead, Nancy," she said sympathetically. "But life goes on. We cherish their memory and celebrate their lives and the life they gave us."

Nancy thought about this for a moment and a small smile crossed her face.

"Here we are." she told her passenger. "Welcome to my home."

They turned into the driveway of a two-story brick house that had a second, curved drive in front. Zatanna volunteered to open the doors of the detached garage to let Nancy drive in. They entered through the back door and in the kitchen; Zatanna got another dose of deja-vu.

"Hannah I-- Oh, I forgot; I had given our housekeeper a few days off to visit her sister. She said she would make a luncheon before leaving," she reported, lifting the lid off a pot. "(Sniff) Ahhh, I hope you like vegetable stew?"

"I'm not really--" Zee's stomach growled and the girls laughed. "I mean I LOVE vegetable stew!"

"Good. Come upstairs, I'll show you where to wash up. Then I'll lend you some clothes to wear."

"I can't--"

"Yes you can, it'll just be for today. Tomorrow we'll go shopping and you can pay me back once you're settled."

"But I can't ask you to spend your money on me," Zatanna protested as she was led by the hand towards the staircase.

"I do this sort of thing all the time. Are you going to be a bad guest and argue with your hostess? Good! And don't worry, you WILL pay me back; you can start by telling me what sort of trouble you're in."

"I'm not in any trouble."

Nancy opened the front of the coat Zee wore to reveal her costume and smiled in a sly, fox-like manner. "Of course not dear," She said. "That's why you didn't take the time to change." There was no use in denying it, so the magician shut up.

Actually, Zatanna felt better after washing up and the dress given her fit well enough and was charming in an old-fashioned way. Nancy came back into her bedroom with a dress box and suggested that Zee freshen her make-up while she packed the super heroine's costume away. This gave Nancy a chance to snoop a bit and she read the clothing labels. The boots were from a custom shoe-maker in Gotham City and the bodysuit was made by "G. Perez. Theatrical Costume Designs. NYC". That confirmed her claim of being in show business.

Zatanna was doing a little snooping herself and picked up a picture of Nancy and two dark-haired girls in swimsuits, (Deja-vu AGAIN!) backs to the camera, eagles drawn (No, suntanned) on their backs along with the words: "NRA We Do Our Part". So, Nancy was a member of the National Rifle Association? Zee looked into the mirror's reflection and found her hostess staring at her with the oddest expression, Zatanna's brooch in her hands. Zee turned to face her and Nancy blushed.

"Oh, I... I was just... this is a very beautiful piece, where did you get it?"

"It was my mother's," Zatanna told her, taking the jewelry and pinning it back on her suit's collar.

"My mother left me some jewelry," Nancy said, opening her hope chest and reaching into a small box. "Oh, but that can wait. You're hungry and our soup is waiting."

Zatanna's practiced eye saw that Nancy had "palmed" something, but she said nothing as they went back to the kitchen and prepared to eat. The two were mostly silent during the meal, only making polite remarks about the food as it went. Then, at one point Nancy decided that it was time to break the ice.

"What's it like in the future?"

Zatanna started coughing as she inhaled a piece of potato. Nancy was at her side in a flash, patting her back and pressing a water glass into her hand.

"Fu-- (cough) FUTURE? What makes-- makes you say that?"

"Because you're from the future," Nancy smiled, eyes twinkling. "Would you like to know how I found out?" she asked, turning around, lifting her skirt to her knees. "Notice anything?"

Zatanna looked at the young woman's legs, shoes and stockings. Other than the fact that the latter looked like silk, she couldn't see anything special. There WAS one thing:

"You're wearing seamed nylons, is that it?"

Nancy threw a smile over her shoulder. She had Zee right where she wanted her.

"Exactly. Your tights are so finely made that they have no seam that I could detect. And you just used a word that I have never heard before: 'nylons'."

Zee could have bitten her tongue as Nancy continued.

"There are a couple of other things, but they are unimportant. The REAL clue was this," she announced, holding out a piece of jewelry.

"My brooch!" Zatanna cried, jumping up and grabbing it.

To her surprise, a silver chain swung from one side.

"My PENDANT," Nancy told her. "Of course, I noticed it the moment I saw you. It seemed odd that we would have the same style of jewelry, just one of those funny coincidences that people discover and laugh about later. But then I had a chance to examine it closely as I folded your clothing and I read what was on the back. The inscriptions are the same which is quite odd because I had commissioned the inscription myself to honor the girl who had given it to me. She had saved the lives of my friend and me, you see, and I never wanted to forget that."

Zatanna knew that her brooch had been converted from a pendant, but never dreamed that she would meet the former owner! She turned the item over and read the name. Zatanna had seen it before on her own brooch, half-hidden by the pin. If she had ever given it any thought, she had passed it off as the designer's name or the design. Now it meant something more to her...

"Laura Pendleton..." She whispered. "I know that name from somewhere..." Suddenly she became defensive. "Just who do you think you are anyway, Nancy Drew?"

"At your service."

Zatanna's mouth fell open as she stepped back. All the clues had fallen into place: it was like she had been staring at one of those 3D pictures for the longest time and the hidden picture had just snapped into sharp focus. With a cry of "Oh, oh!" she ran out of the room, Nancy following.

"Zatanna? Zatanna, I'm sorry if I said something wrong!"

The debutant detective found the mystery woman in the living room, staring at fireplace mantle.

"The Crowley clock?" She asked, pointing.

"Yes?" Nancy said uncertainly.

"And the funeral urn was from the Turnbull sisters?"

"That's right."

"I read your stories when I was little," Zatanna laughed. "I thought you were fiction!"

"You ARE from the future," Nancy said with a 'gotcha' smile.

"What else have you deduced, Nancy?" Zee asked, this time feeling comfortable about it.

"Well let's see, I know that you came here against your will, either by accident or because you were forced to. I'm favoring the 'accident' theory."

"How did you decide that?"

"Your clothes, for one thing. I would assume that anyone who deliberately travels through time would secure the proper clothing. But let's say that you planned this trip and just didn't care enough to change your clothes. Why would you be here in the first place? It can't be for research because you don't have so much as a pad and pencil to record your findings. The same goes for an attempt to gain wealth and power; if I were to do something like that, I would bring history books and technical manuals. You however, have nothing but the clothes on your back."

"History books and technical manuals, hmmm?" The sorceress said with a smirk.

"Yes, I read A Connecticut Yankee In King Arthur's Court and have thought about taking over some past era," Nancy admitted.

"I can see that I can keep little from you, Nancy," Zatanna chuckled, shaking her head. "Fate must have sent me to you, for you may prove valuable in helping me get home."

"I'll help in any way I can, Zatanna. You only need ask."

"Thank you. Good Heavens, there are so many things I've wanted to know about you!"

"Such as?"

"Tell me about your mother."

Nancy smiled and began her tale. Zee was amazed that "Carolyn Austin" had led such a full life and that Nancy and her parents had been on the Titanic, too! In return, Zatanna told her about her work with the JLA and a few things about the future, (glad that Nancy didn't press for details about things that would come in her lifetime) revealing also that she could work REAL magic. Hours later, Carson Drew found his daughter seated on the couch, laughing with a black-haired woman as if they had been friends forever.

END OF CHAPTER TWO.


	3. Getting Settled

A Blast To The Past

A Fanfic By Kid Zatanna

Continueing the adventures of Zatanna and Nancy Drew in 1933.

For those who are interested, the picture Zee found in Chapter 2 can be found on this web site: historymatters. it's Toby wing and friends, but for the purposes of this story, they are: (L)George Fayne, (R)Elisibeth (Bess) Marvin and (Middle)Nancy Drew.

Triaxx2: I was afraid you would say that when I sent you the sample. I worried that you were a Martian Manhunter fan, but as you will see, erything will be explained.

(Made a couple of corrections and reposted)

Chapter 3: Getting Settled

Top hat held over her heart, Zatanna bowed, drinking in the aplause. She understood how the Flash's foe, Abra Kadabra, could become addicted to it: it was like a narcotic to show people, a noisy payment for a job well done. The magician stood and signaled for quiet.

"Ladies and Gentlemen... my friends! Thank you for your kindness. Thank you one and all for alowing me to entertain you tonight and hope that I may do so again when I next visit your fair city!"

Shouts of "encore!" and "another trick, please!" made her smile. With a gesture, the small band started to play and stage hands brought out the props. A blindfold was placed over her eyes and Zatanna plunged her hand into a large fishbowel from which she drew two capsules.

"When you took your seats, twenty people were randomly selected and given numbers," she explained. "Please look at the slips of paper as I open these two capsules and display the lucky numbers. Will the holders of those numbers then join me on stage, please?"

Still blindfolded, Zee removed the first paper with a florish, holding it up for the audience to see. It was number 18. The paper vanished in a burst of flame and the second was displayed: #7. It also met a firey end. The blindfold was removed and the brunette smiled, holding out her hand as Nancy Drew and Officer Master came to her side. Of course it wasn't a surprise to her, the two capsules had been CHILLED before hand so she could find them easily. She had the volinteers introduce themselves as a table covered with props and a chair were wheeled on stage.

"And now, my two brave, intelligent, assistants will aid me in a deadly little illusion I call 'Decide Your Fate'!"

As the band continued to play, Masters secured the superheroine to the chair with built-in manacles, wrapping rope around her forearms, legs and body so that she could barely move. In the meantime, Nancy Drew had taken a large-bore single-shot pistol and a cartridge down to the front row of attendees for examination. Satisfied that both were real, they handed the weapon and round back to the detective, who loaded it as the people watched and returned to the stage, takeing a "raised pistol" stance. The policeman finnished his task and took his place beside his fellow assistant.

"I am ready!" Zee announced.

Cocking the gun, Nancy lowered it, aiming at Zatanna's heart. Zatanna smiled confidently, but her face fell when she saw Nancy reverse the pistol and place the muzzle under her jaw!

"Nancy, what are you doing?" Zee hissed.

"She is doing what I ordered her to do," Masters said coldly.

To Zatanna's amazement, his form changed and he reformed into J'onn J'onzz, the Martian Manhunter!

"J'onn? What are you doing here? Nancy, put down that gun!"

"I control her actions now, Zatanna," he told her. "You must now choose! You must choose between her and me!"

Zatanna struggled against the unyielding fetters. The words "Egadnob esaeler em!" had no effect.

"CHOOSE!"

"I choose Nancy!" She said defiantly.

The Martian bowed his head, when it came up again, his face was twisted with rage!

"So be it!" He snarled and turned to the woman beside him.

Under J'onn J'onnz's control, Nancy Drew pulled the trigger, her yellow hair turning red with blood! Zatanna screamed and shut her eyes.

Upon opening them, she beheld a darkened bedroom. Sighing, Zatanna slipped out of the bed and into her friend's slippers, careful not to awaken the woman beside her. Going to the window, Zatanna pressed her forehead against the cool glass, it felt good but did nothing to ease the pain in her heart.

"I told you it wouldn't fly," Nancy Drew muttered.

The superheroine turned to cast a jealous look at Nancy Drew as she giggled in her sleep.

"Oh how I envy you, Nancy," she whispered. "If I were you, I could shrug it off as just a bad dream and go back to sleep. But it wasn't a nightmare, it was a VISION!"

Turning her gaze to the window, the sorceress regarded the Drews' backyard with it's high wall and flower beds. In the distance, a train whistle blew and a dog barked a challenge at something. The serene night calmed her somewhat and she sighed. 'Sometimes I hate my powers,' she thought.

The day had seemed to end so well; because of their long talk, Nancy had forgotten to prepare dinner and Zatanna had used her magic to prepare and cook the meal. After a very enjoyable meal and cleaning up afterward, the Drews and their guest had settled down to listen to the radio news after which Mr Drew returned to his study to finnish his work. While Zee listened to a comedy program, Nancy disappiered and returned a while later from the celler with a pile of ironed clothes that she and Hannah had washed that morning. They soon retired to Nancy's bedroom to make plans for the next day; it was decided that Zee would sleep in Nancy's room temporaily for token rent and help around the house. The pajamas and bed were comfortable enough, but Zatanna's magic would not let her stay idle for long.

What did the vision mean? Did J'onn represent the Justice League and the future? Did that mean that if Zatanna didn't return to her propper place in time, Nancy would DIE? Would she be forced to make a desision that would cost Nancy Drew her life?

Carefully, the sorceress crawled under the blankets beside her friend. The middle of the night was not the time to ponder the meanings of visions and there were things to do tomorrow. Besides, Nancy had promassed to take her shopping, and she was not going to let anything spoil that!

It was just seven o'clock when Zatanna rose Tuesday morning and found herself alone. From the books she knew that Nancy was no fan of riseing early, but would do so when there was work to be done. This knowledge made the woman hurry as she washed and ran a comb through her dark hair before trotting downstairs to the dinningroom where the scent of eggs and ham greeted her nose. Mister Drew was just seating himself and stood as she entered.

"Good morning, Miss Zatara," he said cheerfully. "Nancy says that breakfast will be ready in a second."

"Thank you, but as I said last night, please call me 'Zatanna'. Perhaps I should help Nancy in the kitchen?"

"You're too late," came Nancy's voice before she came through the swinging door backwards, a platter in one hand, a pot of coffie in the other. "My room is right above the kitchen, so I knew when you were up and about. Here you are: not as good as Hannah's cooking, but at least it's edible," she joked.

Zatanna marveled at the sight of Nancy in an apron as she poured coffie and dished out eggs, toast and ham slices; the books hardly touched on this side of her life and it made the girl vigalante seem more HUMAN. Politely refuseing the ham-- explaining that she was partly vegitarian-- Zee settled in for a lesurly breakfast. It was quite relaxing compaired to her meals with the JLA because (Unlike in Nancy's authorised books) the Drews apparently forbade conducting work at the table, instead they would only "talk around" the subject, if at all. That rule ended when everyone had finnished eating.

"May I ask what sort of case you've given my daughter, zatanna?"

Nancy wanted to tell him, but Zatanna had coached her on the need for secrecy about her origins. With a guilty look at her new friend, Nancy avoided an honest answer.

"It's a big case dad. Perhaps my biggest one ever."

"Well, that sounds important. Just HOW big is it?"

"So big I can't talk about it."

"Too secret even for your old dad?" He smiled.

"I'm afraid so. But don't worry, there are no gangsters out to get Zatanna or anything else so deadly."

"You're not my little girl any more, Nancy," Carson Drew chuckled. "But I can still worry about you. all right, I understand the need for client confidentuality, so I won't press you. Goodbye, Nancy, goodbye Zatanna."

"Goodbye, dad," she returned with a hug.

"Goodbye Mister Drew, don't work too hard."

"What a lucky man I am," he joked. "To have two beutiful women so concerned about me."

"He's nice, I like him," Zee said as they took the dishes to the kitchen. "Um, I hope you don't mind me asking, but I noticed that your father limps a bit. Was he wounded in the war?"

"No, Zatanna. Dad said that he came out of Cuba without a scratch. The truth is that he shot himself."

"SHOT HIMSELF?"

"Accidently, of course. Dad sometimes carries a revolver and one day the hammer snagged on his pocket and it fired. Mother made him sell it afterward and she bought him a HAMMERLESS Smith & Wesson to replace it."

"Was that the one you carried in 'The Hidden Staircase'?"

"Yes. It's a nice gun but I perfer my Colt Hammerless automatic, it's easy to handle, doesn't bulge in my pocket and holds more rounds."

"YOU carry a gun?" Zatanna asked, almost dropping the cup she was drying.

"Only sometimes. I don't tell my publisher EVERYTHING," she added with a twinkle in her eyes. "If it makes yopu feel any better, I've never shot anyone. I shot AT a man once, but I missed him by a mile," Nancy admitted.

"Well, you ARE a member of the National Rifle Association," Zee observed.

"I am?" Nancy asked, with a puzzled look.

"Uh, that picture in your room?"

"Oh no, that's the National Recovery Act!" Nancy laughed. "My chums and I were promoting the New Deal."

"I should read more history books," Zatanna muttered, shakeing her head.

When Nancy had come out of the basement with the laundry last night, Zatanna had protested that she should have asked her for help. But Nancy had pointed out that there were some towels, sheets and other articals of clotheing that had been left to dry before the furnace and she would let Zee help with them. True to her word, Nancy pluged in the Hotpoint iron and set an old "flatiron" over a small lamp to heat up (with another standing by to heat while the other was used) and the two women went to work. Zatanna would have used her magic for this task, but recently she had been in danger of loseing her powers because of over-use and the magician was carefull not to expend it on minor tasks. It didn't matter, for she rather enjoyed a little manual labor.

With the folded and laundry put away, Nancy checked a list hanging on the kitchen wall and told Zee to get ready to go into town. Throwing on a borrowed sweater, Zee touched up her make-up as Nancy put on her suit jacket and pocketed a holstered Remington derringer. Seeing the superheroine raise her eyebrows at this, Nancy winked.

"Just in case your enamy followed you. To tell the truth Zatanna, it's only good out to ten yards IF your target stands still!"

Down in the garage, Nancy pulled another surprise.

"Would you like to drive?" She asked.

"May I? Thank you!"

Settling behind the wheel, Zatanna started makeing a lot of strange motions like she had yesterday as Nancy looked at her with a thoughtfull expression. Blushing at the attention, Zatanna gave up looking for the SEAT BELT and tried to start the car. Once again, Nancy had that fox-like smile on her face.

"I've learned something else about the future; cars in your time are started from the IGNITION SWITCH."

"OK, how do YOU start it?" Zee asked with a groan.

"With the starter peddle," the detective told her, pointing.

"'With the starter peddle'. You think you're so smart, I'd like to see you try to make microwave pizza," Zee muttered and Nancy laughed at her strange words.

Nancy had to admit that Zatanna was a good driver (Even though she tended to reach around the steering collumn before makeing a turn) and had her pull into a parking lot a few doors down from the bank. she had to make a withdraw, Nancy explained. After obtaining $25, Nancy and Zee left the bank, stalled for a moment by two men entering. About twenty yards down the sidewalk, Nancy paused to flip open the purse attached to the back of her left hand and checked out the mirror on the inside of the flap.

"How would you handle a bank robbery in your time?" she asked her companion casualy.

"Well, I would just teleport in and start throwing spells, I guess. It depends on the set-up, of course."

"Um um, no good. they would have their guns drawn in the bank and there are too many people who might get hurt or taken hostage. It's better to let them come out and ambush them while they're concentrateing on getting to their car and in the open. There's also the look-out to consider."

"OK, where would the look-out be?"

"In front of the bank, take a look," Nancy told her, passing over her purse.

Surprised, Zee turned the purse so that the mirror was focused on a man who held his coat to his body in an awkward way.

"I figure he has a sawed-off shotgun or rifle," Nancy guessed. "Can you disarm him?"

"Sure, it's... are you saying we should take them on?"

"Why not? With your magic, we should be able to do it would any shooting. I'll get his attention and you do the rest."

Before Zee could stop her, Nancy walked calmly towards the bank entrance. She trotted after her friend and they paused before the suspected robber. The man looked at them with hard, suspicious eyes.

"Drop the iron, buster," Nancy told him.

Panic flashed across his face and he yanked out a double-barreled shotgun. Zee almost yelped when she saw the muzzles swing towards Nancy's chin: her vision was comming true!

"Nug elbmessasid!"

The scattergun fell apart and Nancy Drew delivered a closed back-hand to the surprised robber followed by her left fist. He staggered back and growled as his hand went for a revolver in his pocket.

"Dnib sih stsirw!" Zee shouted, hands thrust forward. "Gag mih!"

Rope and cloth appiered from her fingertips pulling his hands behind him and filling his mouth. Nancy grabbed the robber's handgun and the women dragged him into a near-by store entrance.

"Goddamit, Nancy! You could have been killed! Just what kind of stupid stunt was that?"

Nancy opened her right hand, revieling her pocket pistol.

"Zatanna, I could have shot him before he got that 20-gage out,"

"All right, fine! But leave the others to me, OK?"

"All right, it's your play."

They had to wait a bit and handed their prisoner over to a willing civilian even as they asked the owner og the store to call the police. Soon after that the two men who had entered as Zee and Nancy had left the bank hurried out, hands shoved in their pockets, one holding a canvas club bag. They were confused to see that their look-out had deserted them.

"Where the hell is that moron?" Snapped one. "If he lost his nerve, I'll break his lousy neck!"

"Stidnab llaf," Zee said and they immediately dropped onto their faces.

Realsieing they were under attack (But not knowing HOW), they struggled to their feet while drawing their pistols. The first looked around and saw a potential hostage walking towards them.

"Hey girlie, get over here!" He yelled.

"Snug era toh!" she replied, pointing at him.

"Yaaa!" They yelpped, dropping the revolvers, they felt the heat even though they wore gloves! Now a blond woman was approaching behind the first and SHE held a pistol!

"You're comming with us!" The second crook yelled as he reached for Zatanna and pulled out another gun.

"Koorc ylf yawa," were the words the heroine intoned with a wave of her hand, causeing the man to be flung against the wall. He wasn't hurt badly, but realised that makeing any sudden moves would be a mistake. His partner jumped into the car parked a few yards away and stomped on the starter, yelling for his pal to get in. The words "Enigne llats" ruined that plan. Nancy Drew ran over and pressed the "borrowed" Colt into his ear.

"As you can see, you don't want to anger my girlfriend. Now how about giveing it up?"

He could do nothing but drop his head against the wheel in defeat.

When the cops arrived, the three crooks yelled threats at Zatanna and Nancy, they were even angry enough to tell the police that Zatanna was responsible for the strange attacks on them. Zee laughed it off, suggesting that they were trying for an "insanity defence". The policemen alowed the women to go on their way because they knew Nancy's address and could contact them for further questioning if nessisary. As soon as they were out of earshot, the magician gave the vigilante a nasty look.

"I told you to let ME handle it," she whispered sharply. "You're not bullet-proof!"

"Are you?" Nancy asked with genuine interest.

"That's not the point," Zee snapped, stopping to face Nancy. "You could have been killed! If you had died and I couldn't prevent it, I would never forgive myself!"

"And if you had gotten shot by one of those bimbos, it would have broken my heart!" Nancy retorted. "You have real skill Zatanna, but you were out-numbered."

"I not only have skill, I have experience. I started my career when I was seventeen."

"So? I started when I was SIXTEEN and I think I know the score here better than your do. Zatanna, I want to know you better and I'd rather not do it durring visiting hours at the hospital," she said softly. "Forgive me, I didn't mean to cast doubts on your abilitys, it's just that friends should look out for each other."

"I'm sorry I snapped at you, Nancy." Zee said with a hug. "You're right, I have a lot to learn, but I worry about you too."

"Thank you, that makes me feel better," Nancy smiled, nuzzling her friend's beutiful dark hair. "Now let's go shopping."

They entered the local Sears Robuck department store, followed seconds later by a tall, thin man in a cloth cap. Seeing them enter an elevator and accend to the "Ladies' Department", he rushed to a phone booth to make a call.

TO BE CONTINUED.


	4. Mind Over Magic

A Blast To The Past

A Fanfic By Kid Zatanna

This fanfic uses characters owned by DC Comics and other companies and therefore is ONLY for entertainment, not sale. The persons and events depicted here are fictional, not real. (Darn it)

As you may have noticed, this fanfic contains mild language and violence.

A minor note: Zatanna may have seemed a bit rude to Nancy Drew in the second chapter, but the REAL reason she was trying to put Nancy off was that Zee didn't want to risk interacting with "the natives" too much. However, she feels that she can trust Nancy.

I sometimes call Nancy a "vigilante" in this story, but back then that was the proper term for what she did and the word had not yet gotten the bad connotations it now has. Also, Nancy didn't suggest that they tackle the bank robbers because she was "a crime fighter", by the way; it's just that Americans were more proactive and more likely to take action against crime back then.

---------------------------------------

Zatanna had observed that River Heights had a unique advantage in that while it was large enough to have all the "big city" conveniences; it was not so large that one would feel over-whelmed by crowds and urban sprawl. The small city had been a distribution point for river and rail traffic in the past although the riverboats were quickly becoming obsolete. The present economic depression had hurt the place and had forced the closing of the local button factory, but the city was a favorite summer retreat for some wealthy families and it could still do a respectable amount of business thanks to its airfield, warehouses, docks and farms. Zatanna was pleased by her new base of operations and found it comforting that a place like Sears was at hand. Here she was on familiar ground and didn't have to worry too much about her future manners and quirks appearing out of place.

Leaving the elevator, Nancy led Zee to the Ladies' Department on the third floor, approaching a saleswoman as Zatanna made a mental note to memorize the old gender-specific titles.

"How may I help you, ladies?" The employee asked.

"My friend lost her luggage in an accident," Nancy lied, nodding in the super heroine's direction. "So she will need a few new changes of clothing: shoes, stockings, dresses, blouses and skirts, lingerie and a coat. I suppose we can pass on hats right now, maybe later."

Eyes lighting up at the prospect of a large commission, the woman eagerly led Nancy and Zee straight to the underwear counter.

"Oh, I forgot to ask if they have any 'NYLONS'," the former whispered, causing Zatanna to scowl at her while holding back a giggle.

While the "unmentionables" were cheep, Nancy made certain to pick out ones that were attractive and in pleasing colors. Zee however, was rather disappointed in the selection, it ranged from "plain" to "frilly"; she preferred undies that were on the SEXY side, and the old-fashioned panties and bras also tended to cover more than what she was used to. RAYON stockings were purchased too, once again driving home the point that nylon had not yet been invented. A set of soft cotton pajamas were then produced but were instantly rejected by Nancy who asked to see something more attractive. When a style that was more to the women's' liking was found, a similar set in violet was accepted after comparing two other colors to the pleasantly dark complexion Zatanna had inherited from mother. A matching "dressing gown" followed.

In the Dress Department, several dresses were picked out and Zatanna was pointed to a dressing booth to try them on. After dressing, Zee returned to Nancy and the saleslady to walk, turn and have the outfit pinched and creased until the 1930's women were satisfied as to the fit, there upon the woman from the future was shooed back to try on something else. Zee was actually enjoying the attention and after several changes, selected two dresses, a suit and two blouses to which Nancy added a very fashionable (for ANY era) belted, henna-colored leather jacket and a silk scarf. Later, Zatanna would use her magic to tailor the clothes to her shapely figure.

Paying for the purchases, they were then handed off to a man in the shoe department who brought out a selection of footwear for their approval. Zee had already made her mind up after passing the displays, but allowed the gentleman to suggest a few styles before taking a pair of comfortable mid-heeled shoes with a strap across the instep. Zee was so pleased with them that she put them on after Nancy paid. The last stop was for a hairbrush, comb and to Zatanna's relief, a toothbrush (No more mouthwash-breath!). By that time it was noon and Nancy declared that they should check in with her father before heading out for lunch and stopping at the butcher's for a roast. As they exited the building, loaded with packages, the man who had been watching them made his move.

"Oh! I'm terribly sorry," he exclaimed after "accidentally" colliding with Zatanna, spilling her purchases. "That was so stupid of me! Let me help you with those."

"No damage done," Zee hastily said as they gathered the boxes.

"Allow me to make it up by carrying those for you," he offered. "Do you have a car?"

"Thank you, but that's not necessary," Nancy replied.

"But I insist, it's no bother at all! Say, are you Nancy Drew?" He asked as they walked down the sidewalk.

"Yes, I am she," Nancy responded. 'Here it comes,' she thought.

"I must say that I'm a great admirer of yours Miss Drew. What you and your father have done for this community is just grand. You know, there are a lot of people who would like to reward you for your work and I wish there was some way to show my appreciation, too!"

"Thank you, but I've been compensated many times for my efforts. And I must point out that they are rather exaggerated. Here's my auto, please put the boxes in the rumble seat."

"But you must let me thank you in some way, especially since I caused your friend such inconvenience! Wait, I know just the thing!" He dipped his hand into a pocket and withdrew two thick pieces of paper. "Please take these tickets, you and this other lady will be the guests of The Amazing Rando tonight at the Majestic Theater. No, don't argue, if you refuse I will be very offended. So please, go and enjoy the show. Good day, ladies," he added tipping his hat and walking off.

Nancy looked up from the fool scrap to see Zatanna checking to make certain that they still had everything they had left the store with. "What do you think of him, dear?" she asked.

"He's a bizarre twit," the dark-haired one observed. "What do you think his... Nancy! He may have seen me use magic at the bank!"

"Wouldn't he have mentioned that? And why give us tickets?" Nancy pondered, starting the car.

"Obviously to meet me," Zatanna pondered. "From his name, I would assume that he's a magician and it may be that he thinks that I could teach him real magic. No wait, he wants me to see his show before making contact. It's possible that he already knows magic and wants to find out how much I know."

"Maybe you should avoid him, Zatanna," Nancy suggested. "Have you ever heard of Rando?"

"No, but then I'm only a casual student of the history of magic. He already knows who you are and if I don't appear at his show, Rando may seek me out and cause trouble for you. No, we'll just see what the Amazing Rando wants. I've handled his kind before and have learned to fast-talk with the best of them."

Nancy glanced at the fascinating woman beside her, ready to argue. But she remembered the incident earlier and nodded as she turned back to her driving.

"You know this sort of thing better than I, darling. This time I'll let you call the shots. Here's where dad has his office, we should let him know of this new development."

Zatanna agreed as the vigilante swung the roadster into a parking space. As the friends strode up to the entrance, Zatanna smiled slightly when she noted that there was a barbershop across the street as in one of the books she had read. The law offices were on the second floor and since Zee and Nancy were both athletic, they thought nothing of taking the stairs for such a short trip. Carson Drew's practice was small but prosperous and took up five rooms and employed several people including two junior lawyers. Nancy was recognized instantly and the two were nodded into the boss' private office where they found Nancy's father finishing a phone call.

"Yes, judge. Three twenty today…. I understand completely. Oh yes, and my daughter has just walked in to scold me for working during lunch," he said waving the two into handy chairs. "Right, I'll see you then. Goodbye. It seems that I won't be joining you for dinner, Nancy; I have to go out of town for the case Judge Walker had assigned to me. I should be back by tomorrow, but it means that I'll have to bow out of our luncheon date so that I can finish up here before catching the train."

"I understand, dad," Nancy replied. Shall I help you pack?"

"No, no. I'll just go home for an extra shirt and a few things for an over-night trip," the lawyer said with a wave of his hand. "So tell me Zatanna, how is your case coming along?"

"Nancy is living up to her reputation," Zee smiled. "She suggested that I make a sketch of a mirror that figures into the mystery and mail it to her chum, Helen Corning since her family owns a glass business and they may know its whereabouts. We should be finished in a couple of days"

"Zatanna's being more than kind," Nancy said modestly, "I've barely done a thing about her mystery and there's no guarantee that the Cornings know anything about the mirror."

"If you need an answer quickly, why don't you send the drawing by telegraph?" Mr. Drew suggested.

"Yes, we'll do that. Well, this case should have no problems then. If you're sure you can't take the time to join us at the lunch counter, we'll run off then," Nancy stepped forward to give her father a parting peck on the cheek when Zatanna cleared her throat. Nancy shot an annoyed look at the magician. "Dad, there's a SLIGHT problem. Someone has taken an interest in Zatanna."

"What sort of an interest?"

"A local performer named 'The Amazing Rando' knows something about me, or at least he THINKS he does."

"There's nothing to suggest that he does," Nancy injected. "It may just be a big bluff to glean information that he may use."

"Blackmail, perhaps?" Drew suggested.

"I don't think Zatanna has done anything to be ashamed of, dad. It's just that there are some things about her that shouldn't be made public."

Carson Drew picked up a pencil while assuming a relaxed posture and began to subtly interrogate his daughter's new companion.

"Tell me Zatanna: do you know this 'Amazing Rando'?"

"No, I've never heard of him until today," Zee answered honestly.

"What did he say when he contacted you?"

"Actually, he DIDN'T approach us. A man we've never seen before set up a very clumsy accident in order to give Nancy a pair of theater tickets to Rando's show tonight. As a magician, I'm aware of several techniques involved in the 'set-up' and even Nancy had checked to make sure that our pockets hadn't been picked, it was that obvious."

"Are you certain that this man wasn't genuinely sorry for the accident and just wanted to make amends?" Carson asked.

Nancy's father was looking directly into Zee's eyes when asked this question, making a small distracting gesture with the pencil at the same time. This was one of the little tricks he used in court to make a witness flinch, but Zatanna was well aware of the art of 'misdirection' and ignored it.

"I'm quite certain. He went on about Rando without mentioning the supporting acts. I have no idea why Rando wants me to see his show, but I'm sure he will reveal his motives at the theater."

"What makes you sure that YOU are the one Mr. Rando wishes to meet?" Drew continued, still in 'lawyer mode'. "After all, it was Nancy who was given the tickets."

"Because either Rando or his man had seen me use REAL MAGIC to stop a bank robbery and no doubt wants to learn all of my secrets. You see sir, I am a sorceress and for your information, I'm not a story-book sorceress, I happen to be the real thing! Not only that, but I'm also from the future and if you tell anyone, I'll turn you into a frog!"

As tempting as it was, that was NOT what Zatanna had said. She realized that she would have to continue to live the lie she had placed herself in for the sake of protecting the future.

"Simply put, Nancy is already known to them. It was a ready-made excuse to 'reward' her for past deeds. To cover this and to insure that I accompanied Nancy to the theater, they gave her two tickets, knowing that it would be unlikely that Nancy would refuse to take me along after Rando's man suggested that she take me as well."

Zee glanced to her right and noted Nancy Drew smiling her approval at Zee's deductions. The lawyer leaned back in his chair, satisfied with her answers.

"I have just one more question for you; is there any danger?" He asked.

"I don't know," the future woman replied, looking down while scuffing her toe on the wooden floor. "Possibly not, it may be some sort of con game or he might just want to trade notes on our respective acts. I think it would be better if I went there alone tonight."

"Zatanna, I promised to help you in any way I can," Nancy said, a little hurt. "We'll go together and see this through."

"Nancy, the situation's changed; we don't know what's waiting for us. It could be nothing; it could be an attempt to kidnap me, I'm not going to risk your life."

"I'm not a coward, you know that," Nancy protested.

"It's not a matter of being afraid," Zatanna said, her voice raising a bit. "If things so wrong, I can't guarantee your safety."

"You should worry about yourself then!" Nancy snapped, jumping to her feet. "I can take care of myself and have been in peril many times before, but look: here I am, still alive! Did you think I was just blowing smoke rings when I said I would get you home? Well I wasn't!"

Zatanna shook her head; couldn't Nancy see that the magician was right? Nancy was good at what she did, but Zatanna dealt with things that the Depression-era girl couldn't conceive. They were going into an unknown situation and if the crap hit the fan, Zee didn't want Nancy to suffer. Even with all her magic and skills, there were things that filled Zatanna with fear and she couldn't subject her friend to that!

"Nancy, it's for your own good. I'll be alright and I'll tell you what happened when I get back."

Nancy sat down, averting her eyes from the brunette. "Very well, there's just one thing I want from you, OK?"

"What is it?"

"I want you to release me from my promise to help you," Nancy Drew stated coldly. "Since you want to blunder into danger without me, I wash my hands of the whole thing."

"Nancy!"

"No, just forget it!" Nancy snapped, turning her blazing eyes on her. "You're right; you can get along without me! You were just being nice when you asked for help! You have skills and knowledge I could never hope to have. So go on, you're better off without me holding you back!"

A loud pounding startled them and the women turned to find Mr. Drew striking his desk with his empty coffee cup. When he had their full attention, he leaned forward, hands clasped on his desk.

"Zatanna, I want you to answer me honestly; IS there any danger to my daughter?"

"I don't know," Zee said softly. "I may be worrying over nothing, but if I'm not wrong, you both may be hurt."

"Rando discovered Zatanna's secret, dad," Nancy offered. "She trusted me with it and I promised that I won't tell anyone, not even you. It's nothing to be ashamed of, but if word got out, it'll be very hard on her. It may even mean her enslavement or… death."

"Is it really that bad?" Mr. Drew asked the magician.

"More than you can imagine."

"Then I think you should find out what Rando knows and that you should take Nancy with you to the Majestic Theater. If it's as dangerous as you think, you shouldn't go anywhere alone. You said that you know of Nancy's work, believe me, you couldn't know the half of it. She'll do all she can to protect you and you'll find her aid invaluable as I have."

"You're right, we'll go together," Zee told him with a guilty blush.

"Good. I'll be back in a day or two and you can fill me in. Two more things Nancy, don't hesitate to call your friends for help and also, take ALL precautions, if you know what I mean."

"I understand, dad. Goodbye."

The two ladies walked silently out of the office, not speaking until they were in the hallway.

"Nancy, I'm sorry for casting doubts on your abilities."

"No, you're right. I know just a fraction of what you're capable of and I can't assume that you're the only one in your time that has such powers. If The Amazing Rando can also wield magic; you would be better equipped to take him on."

"Your father was right about one thing: this is no time to split up," Zee paused to take Nancy by the shoulders and look intently into her eyes. "We'll have to watch each other's backs, Nancy. Please, be careful."

Nancy looked into those beautiful eyes and blushed, hesitantly touching Zatanna's arms.

"I promise, Zatanna."

Zee sighed in relief and pressed her cheek against her chum's for an instant. "Now then, you said we should send Helen Corning a telegram?" She asked, pulling away.

"Yes, if you could draw a picture of the mirror, we can send a facsimile to the Corning Glass Works. Helen's family has a collection of glassware and mirrors and if luck is with us, they may have it. If not, they could send word out to the dealers and factories that it's being sought. We may not have to worry about Rando at all."

Everything was now right with Nancy's and Zatanna's world, they were back on the trail of adventure and that was when they were at their best.

---------------------------------

After a light dinner, the heroines drove downtown to the Majestic Theater. Its name was a little grand for the place, but Zatanna smiled as she took in the surroundings, it reminded her of the type of theaters where she had started her own act as a teen.

"Isn't it rather 'convenient' that Rando's assistant had tickets for us?" Nancy whispered.

"Not really," Zee replied. "Performers are often given extra tickets to sell, or for promotion, or to give to a shill. I've been given extras myself."

"What's a shill?"

"Oh, a shill is an assistant planted in the audience to help with the act. Magicians and even comedians use them. "

Zatanna enjoyed the dancers that opened the show, but found disappointment in the comedians. That was one of the problems with time travel; she had heard all the jokes before. She sat up straight when Rando was announced; this was who she was really interested in seeing.

Zee expected Rando to start off with the standard stuff, sealed envelops and the like. Instead, he called out inquiries after getting "spirit messages". Audience members would then reply and receive information on various topics. Glancing at her companion, Nancy saw that Zatanna was slumped in her seat with her arms folded across her chest, a bored expression on her face.

"What do you think of him?" Nancy asked.

"Eh, he's OK," Zee shrugged. "His act is good, but his presence needs work."

"I have a message for a Mister Layton," Rando was saying. "You have been expecting…" Suddenly he cut himself off. "There is one here who is hostile to my gift." He announced. "I assure you that my talents are NOT a fake!"

Zee sniffed audibly in derision. "Next you'll tell us that the sky is blue."

"I have no need for such cheap trickery, Miss Z," Rando declared. "I invite you and your companion to meet me in my dressing room after this performance. You shall then have proof of my powers; tonight, you will receive a telegram from a man you have never met! It will say 'The iron Buddha has a heart of jade'! I accept any challenge you may offer, Miss Z." he added after a short pause. "You will find that I am on the level. Now, Mister Layton; you have been expecting news from your son who is in the navy. A letter will arrive within a week. I am now getting a vision of the letter 'L'…"

"Let's go, Nancy," Zatanna said, rising. "I've seen enough."

Nancy followed the magician to the rest room and after "freshening up"; they sat in the ladies' lounge to discuss developments.

"So what do you think, Zatanna? I know he didn't use real magic to know you were in the audience since he expected us, but how did he know those things about people?"

"I'll tell you when we get home, but I want to talk to Rando first. He did invite us backstage and I would like to face him before making any decisions about him. By the way Nancy, do you have a calling card I could use?"

"I think I do," she replied, opening her purse. "Yes, here you are."

"While the Stage Manager may have been told to expect you Nancy, Rando would certainly have told him to let ME backstage," looking about to make sure that they were unobserved, Zatanna spoke softly. "Srettel mrofer, lleps ym eman."

Nancy watched with wonder as her printed name reshaped and spelled out "Zatanna".

"That is amazing!"

"Oh, that's nothing, really," Zee smiled. "You should try working magic when you've been turned into a hummingbird."

"A hummingbird?"

"It's a long story that I'd rather not go into it. Hummingbirds scare me, anyway."

"Oh. I can't stand hospitals myself," Nancy confessed.

A burst of applause signaled the end of the Amazing Rando's act and Nancy peeked around the corner to confirm that the intermission had started. It was now time for them to confront the mentalist.

Telling Nancy to let her do the talking, Zatanna led the way as the chums went past the box seats to the stage entrance. They were halted by a stage hand but Zatanna showed him the altered card and he took them to the men's dressing rooms on the opposite side of the stage where Rando had been assigned a room. Their guide knocked on the door and announced that Rando had visitors. The Amazing Rando bid them enter and the stage hand opened the door for the ladies and went back to his job.

Rando was rather tall, with dark hair. Nancy was surprised to see that he was rather young, perhaps not yet out of his teen years. He was before the make-up table; a blond woman knelt before him, tying his shoe as he rested it on her knee. He motioned them to sit on a couch near the door.

"Sit, won't you? Clarisse I have a dinner appointment so you'll excuse me if I dress while we talk."

"We won't take up much of your time, Mister Rando," Zatanna said, dropping her card on a table. "We also have plans for tonight, so please be brief."

Rando turned a hard look at Zatanna who returned his look coldly. With a gesture to Clarisse, the woman picked up a tie and secured it around his neck.

"Very well then Miss Zatanna, I know your name and I know what you are capable of. You have powers that you wish to hide, but that is a mistake. You have talents that could make you rich and powerful, but you need someone to help you develop them, you need a mentor and adviser to bring your powers to their full potential!" He paused for a reaction, but Zee let him continue. "I too have powers above the ordinary masses. You have seen my act, but that is just a game to amuse the public. My powers are greater! I can not only read the minds of others, I can send my thoughts into another's brain! You are skeptical, of course. So I have arraigned a little demonstration; during my performance, I told you that you would receive a telegram, correct?" Zatanna nodded and he continued. "Clarisse."

The woman picked up a dime from the table and stepped over to the door. Before she reached it, there was a knock. Clarisse opened the door to accept a telegram and handed it to Zatanna. Rando smiled as if he had done something clever.

"Do open it" he told her. "It's for you."

Ripping open the envelope, Zee took unfolded the paper as Rando's servant retrieved a suit jacket and continued to dress her boss.

"TO Zatanna c/o Majestic Theater. The iron Buddha has a heart of jade STOP. Ryan." She said without emotion.

"I had mentally instructed one of my minions to send you that telegram," Rando told her. "My proposition is this: if you join me, we will become two of the most powerful people in the world. Between us there will be few who could oppose us!"

"You're pretty bold for a man with just a few parlor tricks to back him up," Nancy Drew observed.

Rando's eyes flashed with anger for a second, then he calmed.

"My invitation is for your friend!" He snapped. "And I advise you not to stand in our way. What do you say, Zatanna? If you join me, I could even find a place for Nancy Drew in our empire. You may refuse if you're afraid."

"Afraid, of what?" The super heroine sneered. "I'm not the one who should be afraid, YOU are."

With those words, Zee crumpled up the telegram and it began to burn. Fighting back an urge to do more, Zatanna dropped the paper and left the dressing room, Nancy in tow. They left the theater and drove home in silence. Nancy noted that her friend was troubled, but didn't press her about the matter until they were getting ready for bed.

"Zatanna, you said you would tell me how he did his tricks later" Nancy reminded her, picking up a hairbrush. "Well, it's 'later' now."

"Oh, that's right," Zee responded. "Pick a number between one and ten."

"OK, I have it."

"What's your number?"

"Seven."

"Look under your powder box, Nancy."

Lifting the box from the vanity, Nancy Drew found one of her calling cards. On the back was written "I knew you would pick number seven".

"Now look in the right-hand drawer," Zee continued.

From the drawer, Nancy took another card. "I knew you would pick number three," she said aloud. On an impulse, the debutant detective picked up the box of tissues where she found another card that read "I knew you would pick number four."

"I learned that trick when I was six years old," the other told her.

"Alright, I understand how Rando could have had that telegram delivered while we were in his dressing room," Nancy said. "It would have been simple to have a friend send a wire and have it delivered at the proper moment. But how did he do that stuff with the audience?"

"It's called 'cold reading', Nancy. He speaks vaguely, getting someone to respond and the mark unconsciously helps him. It's something like a cross between 'Twenty Questions' and 'Hot and Cold'," She placed her fingers to her temples in the classic 'mind reader' pose. "I am getting the letter M or N. Is there someone here with those letters in their name who wishes to communicate with the spirits? If you ask around, I'm sure that some of the people in the audience have answered a poll or survey recently. That's a goldmine for fake spiritualists and the like"

"Oh, so that explains it. Well I'm glad you told me, Zatanna. You have nothing to worry about this fake then."

"Who said that Rando was a fake?"

TO BE CONTINUED


	5. Intruders!

A Blast To The Past

A Fanfic by Kid Zatanna

This fanfic uses characters owned by DC Comics and other companies and therefore is ONLY for entertainment, not sale. The persons and events depicted here are fictional, not real. (Darn it)

As you may have noticed, this fanfic contains mild language and violence.

Nancy Drew nearly fell off her chair.

"Who said Rando was a fake?" She repeated. "But you just said he used tricks!"

"I did? Oh, I didn't mean it that way, I was just showing you how he COULD have done it," Zee explained, turning down the bedcovers. "In fact, many real magicians use slight-of-hand to appear more powerful. I myself carry flash pellets and smoke balls as a back-up. Remember when I burned the telegram? I had palmed a match to do that."

Zatanna turned when she felt Nancy's hand on her shoulder.

"Listen you, I want a straight answer; IS Rando a real mentalist?"

"Yes, he is," said the other woman firmly. "I found that out when he paused in his act to address me. To test him, I had directed my thoughts at Rando, declaring that I would expose him. Do you remember that he paused and said that he would accept any challenge? He was answering me."

"Oh my god," The vigilante moaned, running a hand through her hair. "If he's read your mind, he knows everything!"

"Not necessarily," her friend assured her. "I have had experience with his kind and can hide my thoughts. Mind reading is not like reading a book, it takes time and the mentalist must search for the information he wants, sometimes it comes as clues and hints. I doubt that Rando could find much, even if he has scanned me."

"You're still in danger; we have to get you away from here! I know of a place where we can hide out, some friends of mine, they're sisters, own a little chicken ranch and they'll put us up for a day or two. We'll then figure out where to go while we're there."

"Nancy, calm down," Zatanna laughed. "We're in no danger right now and we can plan our course of action in the morning!"

"You're right," the blond sighed, sitting at the make-up table. "I'm sorry for being so dumb, but magic is something that's new to me! I was stupid to panic. I suppose it's old hat to you?"

"Believe me Nancy, battling supervillians is something that NEVER gets old," the magician smiled. "There is something I can do that will set both our minds at ease; may I borrow the rose you bought from the street vendor and some baking powder?"

"Yes, I put the flower in the refrigerator and the powder is on the shelf beside it."

Nancy followed the dark-haired sorceress downstairs to the kitchen where they obtained the items Zee needed. Outside, Nancy watched in fascination as Zatanna slowly walked around the house, holding the rose high, pausing to sprinkle a little powder and say a few words in a melodious voice at each corner.

"I owe you a new can of baking powder," Zee said with a grin when they returned to the kitchen. "But that should keep anyone from spying on us."

"What did you do?"

"I just cast a white magic blessing around the house. It keeps out ghosts, imps and other malicious spirits as well as preventing magical and telepathic eavesdropping. It will only last until dawn, but we'll only need such protection while we sleep."

"Well, that certainly sets my mind at ease," admitted Nancy. "Now we should double-check the locks and turn in. Tell me, can you fly too?"

"Not exactly," admitted Zee. "I can levitate and command the wind to blow me around, but to fly I use a magic carpet or a broom. Or an airplane," she added with a smile.

"You're wonderful, did you know that?"

"Yes I know," Zee sighed, stroking her hair in mock vanity. "I just can't help it."

The women went about the house, checking all the doors and windows, not realizing that they had become careless. Zatanna was used to fighting people who could give Superman trouble and although she was aware of Rando's powers, she was quick to dismiss them because they were less than what she usually handled. Nancy was often careful when on a case, but Zatanna's presence made her rather reckless (As with the bank robbers), therefore the only extra caution taken was to lock her bedroom door.

"If they get in, that should buy us some extra time," she explained to the heroine.

Outside, just beyond the high garden wall that hid the alley behind the Drew home, a man scanned the back of the house with binoculars, lingering on the lighted window over the kitchen. He watched as the light shut off and kept the glasses trained on it, obedient to his orders. A few dozen yards away stood a car, another dark-clad man stood beside it, guarding the occupants. At the wheel was Clarisse, smartly dressed in a lady chauffeur's uniform, in the back, Rando was seated, his eyes closed, a walking stick clutched in his hands.

The young man who had become known as "The Amazing Rando" had learned early in his life that he had the power of intuition and prophetic dreams which he used to make a small fortune gambling. He nurtured his power and developed some telekinetic powers and a talent to influence others in subtle ways. But the stick he held was the turning point in his life; it is said to have once belonged to Count Cagliostro and was made from a rare wood that allows people with ESP to release a chemical stored in the brain that intensifies those powers. Using the psychic act to hone his powers, Rando searched the nation for others whom he could dominate. Rando knew that he might run afoul of others with special powers and had made plans for such an eventuality.

It was a stroke of luck that his agent had found the woman Zatanna; once he had her under his control, he had nothing to fear from the likes of the Shadow and Doc Savage! Nancy Drew would also play a part in Rando's bid for power; she and her father had influential friends and the threat of harming the woman detective would keep Zatanna in her place.

He opened his eyes, giving up on trying to penetrate the wards Zee had placed around the house. She was very clever, Rando thought, but there were other means to obtain his goals. A thought was sent to the man with the field glasses and when he had rejoined his companions, they boarded the car and drove off, intending to return once the occupants of the house were asleep.

It was after midnight when a pair of darkly-dressed men picked the lock on the back door, entering silently. Surgical masks dyed black covered half their faces and dark hats hid their hair. They moved quietly, there was no need for speech, they knew their tasks and only the occasional hand gesture was needed. Rando had chosen them well to aid his ambitions. Frank Martin, a house builder by trade and a burglar by choice, led the way to the stairs since he would know where the steps would be most likely to creak. Jim Albert was a seasoned mercenary and could move silently through the dark when necessary.

Up the stairs they went, slowly and surely, listening as well as watching. They froze when the sound of a key turning in a lock sounded, dropping before a door opened and a feminine figure stepped out into the hallway. Nancy Drew never noticed the two flattened in the shadows below the landing as she softly closed the door so as not to disturb her sleeping friend. After moment's thought, Nancy opened the door and removed the key, locking it as a precaution. Dropping the key into the pocket of her robe, she padded silently to a door between her father's room and her own, not bothering with a light because it wasn't needed to navigate the darkness of her own home.

Martin slowly rose up on his hands and knees, watching the woman enter the bathroom where she turned on the tap, cupping her hand to drink. Taking the opportunity, the two men crept forward, Albert taking a cotton wad and a perfume bottle from his pocket. Nancy was washing her hands as the mercenary squeezed the bulb, soaking the wadding. When their target turned to dry her hands, he slipped in with the same determination and skill that he had used that time in the Gran Chaco when he slit the throat of a sentry. If she had noticed any movement, Nancy had no time to react as a hand grasped her left wrist, the right covering her mouth and nose with the cloth.

Her first impulse was to cry out a warning to her companion, but the all-to familiar scent of ether made her stop her breath. She clutched for the hand with the cloth, but she knew it was useless to try to pry it away; instead, Nancy placed her foot against the wall and shoved. Martin took a step back, but held his ground as the detective reached with her free hand to scratch his face. It was then that the man's partner came in to help, holding her right hand and stepping on her foot when she started to kick backwards. Nancy was in a terrible dilemma, she had to warn Zatanna, but she couldn't open her mouth to yell. She had to breathe and soon her lungs screamed out for air, forcing her to breath in the fumes even as she tried to yell the necessary warning, a warning that was muffled by the cotton. As her struggles slowed and her limbs went limp, Nancy's last conscious thought was "I'm sorry, Zatanna".

Albert lifted the cloth from her face, keeping it close in case of a trick. Martin let go of his grip and they lowered Nancy to the floor.

"Damn wildcat," Albert whispered before leaning through the doorway to spy for any sound or movement from the other room.

Martin was binding their victim's wrists and ankles with lengths of rope they had brought with them and removed the key from her pocket. They then stalked towards the bedroom door and paused. Martin was ready with the key, but the other man shook his head and held up the perfume bottle for his partner to see. It had been modified with a narrow tube about three inches long and this he slid into the lock, working the bulb to send the fumes into the room to ensure that it's occupant was in a deep slumber. After listening for any sounds of alarm, Martin carefully unlocked the door and looked. The dark-haired woman was still and silent, so they entered.

Their masks would provide some protection from the gas, but as a precaution, they left the door open and opened a window. Martin had refreshed the cotton wad and gently held it over the magician's nose; the only reaction was a slight moan of protest over the odor. Nodding to the burglar, the mercenary laid the cloth beside her face and drew the blankets down. They bound Zatanna as they had done with Nancy Drew, taking out an extra surgical mask, giving it a spray of ether before tying it over her face. Martin picked up the sleeping woman and carried her down the stairs and out the kitchen. Outside, Clarisse pulled up in their car and helped him place Zee in the back seat.

Meanwhile, Albert had returned to the bathroom and placed a treated mask on Nancy as he had done with Zatanna. He then followed his partner's footsteps and deposited her in the car. Clarisse had entered the house and found Nancy's bedroom where Frank had told her. Without a word, she took a valise from the closet and placed two sets of clothing inside. With her

Burden, the henchwoman returned to the car and with Albert beside her and Martin taking care of the two in the back, pulled out of the Drew driveway and down the street.

TO BE CONTINUED


	6. Leap Of Faith

A Blast To The Past

A Fanfic by Kid Zatanna

This fanfic uses characters owned by DC Comics and other companies and therefore is ONLY for entertainment, not sale. The persons and events depicted here are fictional, not real. (Darn it)

As you may have noticed, this fanfic contains mild language and violence.

NOTE: Telepathic thoughts are in --

CHAPTER SIX: Leap Of Faith

Sea green eyes opened and the owner of those eyes found herself in an unfamiliar office. There was a blanket covering her body, but the raven-haired magician could feel the ropes around her wrists and ankles, causing her to growl softly. If there was one thing Zatanna hated more than waking up in a strange place, it was waking up to find herself bound and gagged. And since Zee had just awakened to both, it was a given that she was rather honked off! Noticing someone at the other end of the couch, Zee turned her head to see Nancy Drew beginning to stir.

"Namfee," she grunted. "Namfee."

"NANCY!" A woman shouted, startling Zee and causing Nancy Drew to turn her bleary eyes towards the other side of the room.

Seated casually in a chair was Clarisse; a half-amused, half-contemptuous grin on her face, a Belgian Browning in her hand. Noting a movement under Zee's blanket, the henchwoman raised her pistol.

"Rando told me to shoot you if you attempted to remove the gag," she warned. "You don't look so dangerous to me," Clarisse added with a sniff.

"How would you like to tackle me, instead?" The ungagged Nancy Drew challenged.

"Oh, you're so scary!" Clarisse sneered as she walked over to the bound women. "Just try something. Go on, try it!" She snapped, kicking Nancy in the shin.

Zatanna's hands came up from under the blanket and the criminal swung the thirty-two in her direction.

"Don't do it. Rando wants you alive, but he didn't say in what condition," she warned and to drive home her point, Clarisse slapped Zee's face with the pistol.

"Leave her alone!" Nancy shouted, kicking at the woman's leg.

Easily dodging the kick, Clarisse stepped backwards to her chair.

"The great Nancy Drew," she chuckled, settling down. "All trussed up like a Christmas turkey. You're not so tough now, are you?"

"Why are you doing this? What have we ever done to you?"

"To be honest, SHE did nothing to me," Clarisse said, indicating the super heroine. "But YOU, you did everything to me."

Nancy searched her memory. She had a lot of enemies, but she couldn't be expected to remember them all.

"You don't remember me, do you? Oh of course, I was wearing a hood at the time! Does the Hale syndicate ring a bell?"

"Red Gate farm," Nancy said. "You were one of the counterfitters."

"I was not that talented, I was one of the distributors. Yeah, we had a good thing going, until you stuck your nose where it didn't belong, that is."

"Am I supposed to feel sorry for you?"

"I don't care how you feel. Maybe you should feel sorry for those farm folks who are no longer getting the rent we paid them," the villainess smirked.

"And how many of those banknotes were bogus?"

Clarisse almost made a retort, but she smiled mockingly instead.

"I'm sure I wouldn't know."

Her eyes closed for a moment. The door opened seconds later and Rando came in, looking pleased. In his hand was Cagliostro's walking stick which he handled like a swagger stick. He removed his hat as he entered and smiled at the bound ladies.

"You should have accepted my kind offer when I made it last night," he told Zatanna. "Now I'm afraid that you'll have no choice."

"Don't do it, Zatanna," Nancy exclaimed. "You can take him on!"

"I've no doubt of that, Miss Drew," The Amazing Rando responded. "That's why we have taken precautions. Now if you don't mind, I would like to talk to Miss Zatanna without interruption."

"I have no objections," the vigilante said with a smirk. "Go ahead and take off her gag. If you are not AFRAID, that is."

A burst of laughter was Rando's answer and Zatanna shook her head.

"Yes, that WAS rather obvious," he said, voicing Zee's thoughts. "No I am NOT afraid, but I am not a fool either. Fortunately it's not necessary for her to speak, our talents allow for a private conversation. Now then," he began, turning to look at Zee. "You two have caused me a slight annoyance. I was being honest when I made my offer but you chose to reject it; there fore I have had to take drastic actions. But the offer still stands; join me and you will be rewarded."

--What if we refuse?-- Zee projected.

"Things will get unpleasant."

--Torture? You realize that if it comes to that, you could injure me enough to inhibit my magical abilities-- It was a bluff, but Zatanna was going to have to use any weapon available to her, even lies.

--I wouldn't dream of hurting YOU-- The young man thought, looking in Nancy Drew's direction.

--PIG!--

--Would you really cause her unnecessary pain?--

--If you touch her, I'll make you pay!--

--If you continue to be stubborn, SHE will pay--

--I can still hurt you. I can keep refusing to aid your mad sceme and you will be left with nothing. Nancy would agree! She's stronger than you think!--

"I have no doubt that Miss Drew would sacrifice herself if necessary. But there are other ways to secure your co-operation," he pointed out, rubbing a spot on his stick. "Who is 'the Outsider'?" he asked suddenly.

Nancy turned to see a startled expression on her chum's face, she had no way of knowing the significance of that name. With sudden realization Zatanna knew that the man before her was someone she had met before, and had lost her mind to!

Decades in the future, and just a few years in the magician's past, Zatanna had gone to Gotham city, following a clue to John Zatara's whereabouts. Disguised as an old woman, she met with a fortune-teller who gave her a broom that turned out to be made from a special wood that intensifies ESP powers and through it, the Outsider gained control of Zatanna! She was forced to attack Batman and Robin, but since she could not kill directly with her magic (And because she was still able to prevent him from making her use it fully) Zatanna had to cast several spells on the dynamic duo that would eventually cause their deaths. But fortunately, she and the criminals who had been allied with her were defeated and the broom taken away.

Rando was to become the Outsider! This was bad, the Outsider was one of the few who actually gained control of her powers! Although Rando was less experienced now, and Zatanna was more experienced that in their last encounter, Zee knew that she would have to be very careful in dealing with him.

--The outsider is a man I had run up against in the past. For a moment I thought you might be him, but he was much older when we met-- It was a selected truth, but Zatanna had to choose her thoughts with care.

"Huh. As I said, there are other ways to gain your co-operation. There is a very interesting drug called sodium pentathal that is used as an anistetic. It also has the interesting property of relaxing the patient's mind, so that they are susceptible to suggestions. I wonder what sort of effect it would have if I were to inject you with a dose and commanded you to cast a spell on yourself and Nancy Drew?"

Rando smiled and Clarisse laughed softly as Zatanna's face turned pale. She knew full well what sort of effect that would have and wondered if Rando KNEW what she was capable of or if he was just guessing. She was relieved when he made no move bring out the drugs and hoped that he didn't have the items here. If so, they would have a little more time to make plans for escape.

--I'll... I'll think about it--

"Do so. Think long and hard about it. I would rather have you working for me willingly than by force."

--Could I have a glass of water?--

"Of course you may."

The mentalist stepped over to a water cooler and filled a paper cup. With cup in hand, he walked over to Zatanna and removed the blanket and held the water out. Zatanna took the cup in her bound hands and turned her head towards Nancy's side of the couch, waiting for Rando to remove the surgical mask and take the handkerchief from her mouth. He made no move to untie the strings behind her head, but instead nodded to Clarisse.

"You know what to do," he said softly.

The woman got out of her chair and stepped over to the couch, placing the muzzle of her Browning against Nancy Drew's temple!

"I trust you will do nothing stupid?" Rando warned.

Zatanna shook her head and the mask and handkerchief were removed. Raising the cup to her lips, Zee drank deeply, lowering the cup with a gasp. She finished the water as Nancy looked pleadingly at her. Zee knew what Nancy was thinking even without mental powers. A damp cloth touched her cheek but the heroine continued to look into Nancy's eyes.

"Do it, do it," Nancy whispered, ignoring the pistol being forced harder against her head. "Now, Zatanna! Please!"

It seemed like an eternity until Zatanna turned and opened her mouth to accept the cloth. Her eyes closed sadly as Nancy Drew broke down and cried in defeat.

"Don't feel badly, Miss Drew," Rando said cheerfully. "Your friend is a very smart woman. But now it's time for you to prepare to leave for your new lives."

He took out a pocket knife and cut the ropes on their wrists, allowing them to untie their ankles.

"You may now get dressed. We have brought clothes for you and Clarisse will make sure that you don't forget yourselves."

With that he left, leaving the armed woman to watch as they removed their night clothes and dress for travel. Nancy looked so defeated that Zatanna wished that she could give her some comforting words, but of course with the gag and the threat of Clarisse's gun, that was impossible. When they had finished, Clarisse backed to the door to whistle after opening it. Instantly, Martin came in to retie their hands and help escort them to a waiting Stinson tri-motor airplane in which Rando was seated and "Slim Jim" Albert was warming the engines for take off.

Zatanna saw that Nancy was blaming herself for their predicament and moved close to her as they walked to the plane, silently trying to comfort the woman. Nancy raised her tear-stained eyes but instantly turned away, completely demoralized. Zatanna knew that it was now up to her to gain their freedom.

"Shall we tie them into their seats, boss?" Asked the burglar after he helped the women into the plane.

"No, there is nowhere for them to go," was Rando's answer. "Just put them in the back so we don't have to listen to Drew's sobbing."

Clarisse laughed rudely at this and Nancy felt even more ashamed. She had failed Zatanna and now Rando would have her powers at his command. She wished Clarisse had shot her.

Albert waved to a pair of mechanics to take up the ropes on the wheel chocks and watched the tower for a light signal. When he got it, he made a gesture for the men to take the chocks away and he pushed the throttles gently forward, increasing the power and rolling the plane slowly forward. With the ease that comes from many hours of experience, Jim turned at a sign that advised pilots to get into position and wait for the signal from the tower. The four-plus ton aircraft was powered down as the aviator looked at the top of the airfield tower for the green light to appear. When it did, he didn't hesitate, applying the power to send the aircraft down the grass field and pushing the control wheel forward slightly to lift the tail before applying more throttle and climbing into the sky.

They were on their way. Where to, Zatanna and Nancy Drew had no idea.

Miles passed below them, the plane was speedy and the trip would only last an hour or two. Zatanna considered her options; although seemingly unconcerned while he read a book, Rando was not completely certain that he had Zatanna helpless, even with the threat of harming Nancy Drew. To that end, he had ordered Martin and Clarisse to watch her carefully. If she made any attempt to remove the gag, they were to shoot Nancy Drew. At the moment they were taking turns watching the magician, the other even casting a look now and then.

There WAS one chance. Zee MIGHT be able to work a spell silently. She didn't do it often because it was not as efficient as speaking aloud and it required more magical energy, leaving her with a bad headache. But this was no time to think about personal discomfort. But what shall she use it on? She couldn't remove the gag, she would still have to spit out the handkerchief and by that time, the gang would be shooting! There had to be something else...

"Thank you, Nancy," she thought.

Nancy Drew had insisted that Zatanna read the newspapers and magazines in her home when ever she had spare time so as to get the necessary knowledge of the era. One of those publications was "Popular Mechanics" and Zatanna remembered an article about an early ejection seat that had been installed in some passenger planes. The magician remembered kicking a rail as she sat in her seat and now she peered intently into the cockpit. There, between the seats for the pilot and the co-pilot was a lever helpfully labeled with a small warning sign that Zee could just make out.

But they were not wearing parachutes! Even if Zatanna managed to activate the lever, they would be ejected into space. There was a chance for survival however, but it all depended on Zatanna and how long they would fall. Glancing out the window, she estimated that they were almost mile up. That was in their favor, but it all depended on the confusion their escape would cause.

Zatanna stared intently at the lever, picturing it in her mind. When the image was fixed, she closed her eyes and thought hard.

--Move. The lever will move and release us from our prison. It will move. It will move. Lever move and free us-- Her fingers began to form letters in the deaf/mute signs as her thought continued. --Epacse revel etavitca dna dnes su tuo fo siht enalp--

There was a loud crash as the door was released from it's frame, followed by several "clunks" as the passenger chairs were freed from their places to roll back along the rails. As Zatanna had hoped, panic ensued as the plane lurched while Rando and his people lept from the moving chairs to watch helplessly as their prisoners went backwards out the door!

"What's happening?" Clarisse managed to scream.

"It's the emergency escape system!" Slim shouted back to them. "I don't know how it was activated!"

But Rando knew, "It was that damn witch! I'll never underestimate her again!"

Several airplane seats and two women fell through the sky. One was strangely calm, thinking that it was a rather elegant way to die, the other was near-panic.

Zatanna's heart raced as she fell, she was not so afraid for herself, but she knew she had to succeed for Nancy! Twisting her body and turning her head, she tried to catch a blast from the slip-stream. It seemed like hours until the mask was ripped away and she spat out the cloth that filled her mouth.

"Wols ruo llaf!" She yelled into the wind, almost laughing when she felt that she not only was no longer accelerating towards terminal velocity, but that her decent was now slowing down! Now came the hard part.

"Sepor hsinav, staes emoceb a cigam teprac. Eucser su!"

The passenger seats combined and formed a flying carpet that, at Zatanna's command, caught Nancy Drew and flew over to allow Zee to land on it's surface! As a drowning man would grasp at a straw, Nancy Drew threw her arms around Zee's legs, almost causing the magician to loose her balance!

"Nancy, let go! Ycnan, dnahnu em!"

Against her will, the blond released her savior and grabbed the edges of the carpet. When she looked up at the brunette, she was reassured by a smile and a wink.

Back in the Stinson, Rando was issuing orders.

"Turn back," he told the pilot. "We can't let them escape!"

"Forget it, they must be pancakes by now," Frank said with a dismissive gesture.

"She would not have done something so desperate if she didn't think they could survive! Now we must get them!"

Slim Jim swung the plane around in a wide arc, going lower as the others looked in all directions for their prey. It was the mercenary who saw them first, right in front of them!

"There they are!" He cried in amazement. "It... it's a flying carpet..."

They were speechless for a moment when they saw Zatanna standing on the cloth, her arms outstretched as she maneuvered the magic carpet like a Hawaiian on a surfboard, Nancy Drew kneeling behind her.

"Get in a close as you can, force them down," Slim was ordered.

Zee heard the engines seconds before the plane passed uncomfortably close to them. Riding the prop wash like she often rode waves, the superheroine took Nancy and herself away from the area. Albert had to make a wide turn in the less-maneuverable tri-motor to make another pass, but since the top speed of Zee's magic carpet was only a mile a minute as opposed to the Stinson SM 6000A's 140mph speed, the women were soon within sight. Zee lost altitude and doubled back, flying under the plane and coming up on their port side, passing close enough for her enemies to see her point and laugh at them as she passed.

Rando was enraged by her arrogance.

"Get your guns out!" He shouted, grabbing the pilot's revolver. "If I can't have her, no one will!"

Martin wasn't one for killing, but under Rando's mental sway, he drew his own revolver and opened a window as Rando did the same and Clarisse took up position by the open doorway. Squinting their eyes against the wind, the gang readied for the next pass. Slim spotted the escaping women and turned the plane towards them, banking slightly to allow the three in back could be shooting from the same side.

"Here they come again!" Nancy yelled.

Zatanna glanced over her shoulder and noticed something odd. The plane was turning slightly AWAY from them! The people in the windows made her realize the new tactic and she made a series of turns and spirals to throw off their aim as the gang fired rapidly.

The criminals were unused to firing from a moving platform and had no experience at firing at a moving target either, so none of the bullets came close. Still, the attempted murder made Zatanna clench her fists with rage.

"I've had enough of this nonsense!" She yelled back at Nancy and turned the carpet in the direction of the banking airplane.

"Zatanna, we don't have any guns!" Nancy Drew reminded her.

"We don't need no stinking guns!" She grinned, a dangerous light in her eyes.

Albert was surprised to see their prey coming straight for them, the distance rapidly closing. Even Rando was a little stunned by this act.

"Enalpria pilf revo, senigne eid!"

The occupants were flung about inside the plane as it rolled over. Only Slim Jim stayed in his seat because his and the co-pilot's seats were the only ones equipped with safety belts. He fought to right the airplane and tried to restart the engines to no avail. Seeing that the air battle had brought them close to the ground, he yelled for his passengers to grab onto anything while he looked for a place to land.

Fortunately they were over farmland, burned bare by the drought and the skilled pilot put the plane in a shallow dive gain speed for an emergency landing. His heart sank when he saw brunette and blond fly towards them. "Please let us land," he whispered.

"Dniw ekirts meht."

A sudden gust hit the plane, tilting it enough to slam one wheel into the ground, causing the ship to turn and dip a wingtip into the earth. The plane flipped over onto it's nose where it stood for a second before falling onto it's back. The women on the flying carpet returned to the scene and landed, now that the fight was over, their instincts took over and they felt the need to help.

The first to crawl out the doorway was Frank Martin, his arm held tenderly and a smear of blood on his sleeve. "No, no. please! No more!" He whimpered.

"It's all right," Nancy assured him, taking his uninjured arm. "It's over."

Zatanna went into the plane to help the pilot carry out the barely-conscious Clarisse. Albert seemed to have only a few bruises, but a quick examination showed that Clarisse had a few broken bones. Zatanna held her hands over the woman, softly speaking a few magic words. Clarisse groaned and relaxed a bit.

"I've reset her bones and eased her pain, but she has injuries that I can't see to treat," Zee explained. "You'll have to get her to a hospital for proper treatment."

"Thank you. Look, we didn't want to do this," Albert said hurriedly. "Rando has some kind of power!"

"Yeah, we have done some crooked things," Martin admitted. "But Rando, he can make anything seem like a good idea."

"Where is he?" Nancy asked.

"He was in the co-pilot's seat when we crashed," Jim told her. "He was thrown out the windscreen. I think he's dead."

"Wrong, wrong," laughed Rando as he hobbled around the wreck, leaning on his stick. "I'm quite well, except for a cracked skull, broken foot and some bleeding. But I'm well enough to use this," he added, pointing his pistol in Nancy's direction.

"You are so very talented, Miss Zatanna," he grinned through missing and bleeding teeth. "But the show is over and you will be so kind as to gag yourself or I will blow Miss Drew's head off."

"Take it easy with that gun, Rando," Albert warned. "When It's cocked like that, it has a hair trigger!"

"I know," he giggled. "And it will go off with the slightest pressure. So make it quick, Zatanna, I'm not in any mood for your games!"

It was a tense moment, Rando was five feet from Nancy and although he stood unsteadily, his hand kept the .38 aimed at Nancy Drew's head. He grinned as blood dripped off his forehead, watching Zatanna intently. The slightest movement from her lips would make him pull the trigger.

Nancy Drew spun around suddenly. She had been kneeling beside Martin with her back to Rando, but had turned to look as he spoke. Her arm flashed in an arc and the mentalist had just enough time to see a clod of dirt fly towards his face before it smashed into his nose, forcing him off his feet. The gun fell from his hand sending a bullet harmlessly into the ground as the detective lept to her feet, grabbed the gun and threw it into the plane wreck.

"The stick, Nancy!" Zee hollered. "Get the stick!"

Nancy grabbed the mystical item and ran over to Zatanna's side. "What do I do with it?" She asked.

"Throw it down."

Not one to ask dumb questions, Nancy tossed the walking stick a few feet away. Zatanna then pointed at it.

"Elbmurc dna nrub!"

The wood broke and caught fire before their very eyes. Rando saw this and screamed in anger, most of it directed at Zatanna.

"Zatanna, we should go now. Someone should come along in a while," Nancy told the criminals. "We have no authority to arrest you and you understand that we'd rather not stick around to answer questions."

"Yeah, of course," Martin said, a bit bewildered.

"Yeah, and thanks for helping Clarisse. I won't forget that." added Albert with feeling.

Zee knelt on the magic carpet with nancy kneeling behind her, hands around her waist. With the words "Ylf yawa" the carpet rose with it's burden and was soon out of sight.

TO BE CONTINUED IN Chapter 7: "Back To The Future".

NOTE: Sorry for being late with this, but it turned out for the better since I originally had Zee and Nancy going down on parachutes and fighting the plane from the ground; the air battle was MUCH better.

So as you learned, Rando turned out to be "The Outsider" who appiered in Detective Comics #334, "The Man Who Stole From Batman". As recounted above, Zatanna had been under The Outsider's control in "Batman's Bewitching Nightmare" (As revieled in the Justice League of America story "Z-- As In Zatanna-- and Zero Hour!"). I couldn't find any information The Outsider and he isn't in DC's "Who's Who", if anyone can tell me his REAL origin, please e-mail me or write a review.

After considering a few of Zatanna's and Zatara's foes, I found none of them to be suited for this story, but I then remembered "Zatanna's Search" that included The Outsider and figured that anyone who could gain control of Zatanna has to hold the rank of "Major Bad "! I took a scene from The Shadow radio show for the confrontation in the theater and created his "true identity as The Amazing Rando!" (No points for guessing where I got that name)


	7. Back To The Future

A Blast To The Past

A Fanfic by Kid Zatanna

This fanfic uses characters owned by DC Comics and other companies and therefore is ONLY for entertainment, not sale. The persons and events depicted here are fictional, not real. (Darn it)

As you may have noticed, this fanfic contains mild language and violence.

NOTE: Here is the last chapter, I only wish that my TALENTS were as good as my ideas. Thank you for your reviews, support and patients. Special thanks to all the Zatanna and Nancy Drew fans whom I've talked to and discussed ideas with on the net, I've tried to include some of what we've observed and deduced about Nancy and Zee, but even if I hadn't put ALL of our ideas in the story, they still helped me get a better picture of their personalities and lives.

CHAPTER SEVEN: Back To the Future

At Zatanna's command, the flying carpet flew away from the wreck. The magician was careful to keep low and duck behind obsticals to avoid detection and flew slowly because she really had no idea where to go!

"Nancy, I hate to admit it, but I'm lost. We need to find out where we are or else I can't navigate or teleport."

"I'm sorry."

"I mean it, I don't even know what state we're in!"

"Then go to a main road and look for a highway sign," Nancy said without enthusiasm. "Highway signs are marked with state symbols and such. If you're lucky, you can find a direction sign."

Nancy's tone puzzled her chum, but Zee dismissed it. Popping up to spot a paved road and to check for traffic, the magician zipped over to the highway and flew along towards a crossroad she had seen. Again, her karma was on the job when she read the signs.

"Smallville," she read happily. "I have a friend who grew up there! I know just where we should go now."

Flying out of sight of the main road again, they continued to fly low over the Kansas countryside towards the farming community. However, Zatanna soon realized that there was little cover in the drought-stricken Midwest and that trees were rare. Zatanna pointed out that they would have to travel on foot to keep from being spotted. Landing, the magician ordered the carpet to roll up like a bedroll and she slung it over her shoulder with a bit of twine before proceeding to the highway. Zee's steps were light as she enjoyed the adventure, but she noticed that Nancy Drew was quiet. She stopped suddenly and Nancy, who was trailing behind with her head hung low, almost collided with her.

"Nancy, what is wrong with you?" she demanded. "You've been moping ever since we escaped from Rando's plane!"

Nancy stepped back and blushed. She looked down and shook her head. "Nothing," she whispered.

"Don't lie to me, something's eating you. Now what is it?"

Nancy Drew turned her back to her, too heartbroken to face the woman. Noticing her shoulders quiver, Zatanna stepped forward and put her hand on the woman's shoulder. "Nancy?" She said softly.

The magician's friend took a step away from her, a sob escaping her lips. "I'm sorry. I wanted so much to help you, but I just made things worse. I-I'm... s-sorry."

"Nancy," Zee began. She tried to turn her around and look into her blue eyes, but Nancy moved away again, feeling too ashamed to look at the heroine. Zatanna sighed.

"Nancy, it wasn't your fault. These things happen, you know that. Now come on, I need you to help me get back to Riverheights."

"No... no you don't," Nancy sniffed, wiping her eyes on her sleeve. "Just go, because... because you're better off without me."

"Nancy, I need you!"

"Stop it! Stop playing games!" Nancy swung around, turning her angry, tear-streaked face on her chum. "It's all MY FAULT! If I hadn't insisted that we catch those bank robbers, Rando wouldn't have discovered your secret!"

"Oh come on! I couldn't hide something like that forever, if it hadn't been Rando, it would have been somebody else!"

"You could have gotten away from him if it wasn't for me! You obeyed him to save MY life! You should have let that woman kill me!"

Nancy pressed her fingers to her eyes as a fresh load of tears flowed from them. Zatanna felt pity, then a new emotion came forth.

"Oh my god," She said, hands on her hips. "You are so pathetic! One little set-back and you fall apart! I thought you were tough, that you were some kind of great girl detective. You sure aren't acting like you do in those books. Did that stuff even happen?"

"Y-yes."

"You lier, I'll bet you made it all up! You're NOT Nancy Drew!" Zee shouted, kicking dirt at her. "The Nancy Drew I read about wouldn't give up! You're just a stupid loser!"

"S-shut up, I'm n-not a loser."

"LOOO-SER!" Zee sneered, holding her thumb and forefinger to her forehead. "You gonna just stand there and cry for your mommy, loser? Well too bad, she's not here!"

Zatanna had seen a lot of people move fast (Some at super-sonic speeds), but she never imagined that Nancy Drew could move as fast as she did! Zee only saw a blur and the next thing the future woman knew, she was falling to the ground!

"DON'T YOU EVER TALK ABOUT MY MOTHER! All right, I was cocky, but why didn't YOU use a little common sense? Why didn't you use your magic to protect us last night?"

"Why didn't you do something?' Zatanna demanded, getting up. "Sign Of The Twisted Candles? Glasses on the windows? Does that sound familiar?" She launched herself at Nancy, fists flying.

Nancy dodged the blows and kicked her hip. "Where's your magic, Zatanna? Or are you a fake?" She demanded, delivering a pair of blows. "How many other lies have you told me? Did we REALLY go to the Moon?"

Zee staggered back from the one-two punch. Nancy was a better fighter than had been reported! Zee kept her distance, looking for a chance to use some of the moves taught to her by Dinah Lance, AKA "Black Canary". Nancy had to lean in to throw a roundhouse punch and Zatanna took hold of her arm and twisted it as she turned, throwing Nancy to the ground.

"I never lied to you!" She shrieked, diving onto the detective. "I was more honest with you than I should have been! I told you things that I shouldn't have because I like you a lot!"

Things then devolved into a "catfight", they were in too close for any sort of fighting techniques and were scratching, slapping and pulling each other's hair as they rolled around in the dust.

"I never lied to you either," Nancy retorted. "I was completely honest! When Rando had you at his mercy, I didn't care about myself, I was terrified that he would make you his slave! You're my friend and I couldn't think of anything but your safety!"

They were kneeling face-to-face, Nancy's hands were around Zatanna's throat, the brunette had a handful of Nancy's hair, her other hand clutching a wrist.

"Zatanna, you're my friend, I love you as much as I have ever loved anyone. I'm sorry I couldn't protect you."

Tears made furrows in their dust-covered cheeks, but the pain that made them flow had not come from the injuries they had inflicted on each other. The two women hugged as they poured tears onto the other's shoulder. After they had begun to compose themselves, they were aware that they had an audience. Looking up they saw a truck and a car with a trailer, both filled with possessions and humanity, that had stopped on the side of the road to watch the spectacle.

"Are you two going to be alright?" A lanky, sandy-haired man with his hands in his pockets asked.

The two laughed for a bit before Nancy answered. "Yes, thank you for asking."

The man nodded to himself and looked at the man who was seated on the truck's runningboard as if to check to see if he was also satisfied. A woman came around from the other side of the car with a broom and for an instant, Zatanna was afraid that she was going to attack them for some reason. Instead she began to sweep off Nancy's clothes.

"Land sakes," she said. "You two are going to need a bath soon. The very idea, two pretty girls fighting on the side of the road like a couple of hobos. And in your good clothes, too!"

Zatanna raised her arms and submitted to a sweeping as well.

"Where are you two headed?" Asked the second man.

"Smallville." "Riverheights." Nancy and Zatanna told him.

After exchanging a laugh with her chum, Nancy tried again.

"We live in Riverheights, but we have business in Smallville."

"Our ride deserted us quite suddenly," Zatanna added.

"Hm. Well, if you don't mind riding in back, I could give you a lift," he offered.

"Oh, thank you. If it's not too much trouble, that is," Nancy said gratefully. "If you could drop us off at the rail station, we would be most grateful."

"No trouble at all," he said and opened the tailgate. Nancy held out a two dollar bill (That she had placed in her pocket while laying out her clothes last night) to him after he had helped them settle in among the furniture and baggage. But the fellow refused, saying that it was just an act of kindness.

"For gas," Nancy suggested. "Do you have a dollar?" She asked before he could refuse a second time.

"Yes, we do have some money," he told her, holding up a silver dollar.

"Then give me the dollar and take the two-spot, that way we're even."

The man's pride saw the logic in that and the money was exchanged while Zatanna looked on thoughtfully. The man climbed back into the cab and followed his former neighbors in a mini-caravan, getting into a procession with other refugees from the Dust Bowl. And those people had no idea where they would end up any more than Zatanna and Nancy had when they were Rando's prisoners!

("And they scampered about, looking for work; and the highways were streams of people. Behind them more were coming. The great highways streamed with moving people." John Steinbeck, THE GRAPES OF WRATH)

Although the "Black Winds" would not come until later in the year, the vehicles stirred up dust as they rolled along and the heroines tied handkerchiefs over their faces, glad that Clarisse had thought to place them in their pockets when she had packed their clothes. Zatanna looked about her with great interest, she had read about the Dust Bowl and of the "Okies", and she had even seen some pictures of this era, but to see it live and to EXPERIENCE it had stunned her. One question was on her mind and she had to ask.

"Nancy, how... how could this have happened? I mean, I know how drought and erosion ruined the land, but how could it have been so devastating?"

"A lot of these people were sharecroppers," Nancy began. "They lived on somebody else's land and provided labor as payment for rent. After expenses were paid and the boss got his share, whatever was left-- if anything was left --went to the sharecroppers. Well one day, the boss says 'why should I pay a family of six or seven to plow and mulch when one man with a tractor can do the job?'; so all these people were 'tractored out'. No wait, that's not right."

Nancy leaned on the tailgate and looked at the dust swirling over the asphalt for a moment and tried again.

"There is not one single answer I can give you, Zatanna. There were many things that went wrong, just one or two would not have had such a terrible effect. In the Twenties there was a land boom, so people bought more land. There was a crop boom and people planted more crops. There was the time payment plan and people bought durable goods on credit. Well, durable goods last and people didn't need two cars or two radios and manufacture slowed down. Crops filled silos and storehouses and crop prices dropped. Taxes and mortgages had to be paid on land even when you didn't have regular work and those time payments had to be made, too. For a while the farmers could get by, unsold crops fed your family and corn could burn just as well as coal.

"But then one day, the rain didn't fall, the cattle got sick and the Sheriff came with the bacon grabbers to collect the payments, or the goods you bought. There was the stock market, of course. People all over invested their savings, hoping to get a little nest egg socked away, but there were crooked dealers and outright crooks in the market sending the market into false gains that dropped fast when the real value was discovered and since manufacturing was down, stocks fell too. It seems unfair and even unreal that pieces of paper counted a thousand miles away in a bank can send a farmer in Nebraska into debt, but that's the reality of it," Nancy sighed loudly and looked at the cars and trucks following behind them or going the other way. "But we'll get by, we always have! You can't keep Americans down."

Zee was startled by Nancy's last two sentences, she had not heard such talk for many years. It was strange to her, but seemed to stir something inside her heart.

"I could make it rain," She suggested. "That would help, wouldn't it?"

"I suppose it would help somebody," Nancy sighed. "But it's too late for these people, the crops are already gone and all you would be doing is making a mud hole. It's the prices, Zatanna. Did you know that at one time the price of wheat was minus three cents a bushel? MINUS three cents! That means that you had to PAY the market three cents to get rid of it! Farming is a buyers' market, farmers don't set the price like someone who sells automobiles or clothing. Dad says that the only really valuable thing on a farm is the land, and you have to shop around for the right buyer."

Silence fell over them while the magician thought over this information. She tapped Nancy on the arm to get her attention.

"Nancy, do you now see why I said that I needed you? You know these things, you know these people! If I had been left on my own, I would have done something impulsive and made a mess of it, maybe even wrecking the march of events! It was Fate that brought us together, and Fate knew what she was doing! So don't blame yourself because something went wrong, it was all mapped out and everything is going to be alright."

Nancy took her hand and Zee could tell she was smiling from the way her eyes wrinkled. "I acted like a fool," Nancy admitted. "But I'm fine now. When we get to Smallville, we'll send a telegram to... Oh damn, I am so stupid!"

"What? What happened? What are you talking about?" Zee asked as Nancy leaned over the side of the truck bed.

"Zatanna, when we get to Smallville, I want you to kick me hard!"

"I'll be happy to, darling. But do you mind telling me why?"

"I could have sent you home last night! Oh, it should have been so obvious!"

"What? I don't understand, WHAT should have been so obvious?"

"Zatanna, YOU had told me how it could have been done. I must be the worst detective in the world!"

"All right, you stink. Now PLEASE tell me what you're ranting about!"

When Nancy told her, all Zatanna could say was "Holy cow."

HALL OF JUSTICE. Metropolis, New York. Several decades later.

Hawkgirl was pacing in the main hall, so agitated was she that Hawkman took away her mace so that she wouldn't strike something as she nervously swung it about.

"It's just not like her to go off like this," Hawkgirl was saying. "Zee has NEVER missed a performance without good reason! Something's wrong, I just know it!"

"Unfortunately you may be right," said the dark figure of Batman, leaning against a wall. "But we shouldn't proceed without more information."

"I agree," Superman announced, cutting off a phone call that had turned up no new leads. "We'll have to wait for Flash to return from Zatanna's house."

No one was surprised when seconds later a red and yellow blur came in and made a U-turn to aid it's stop.

"I've finished the preliminary investigation of Zee's house, I'll develop the pictures I took and report," Barry Allen/The Flash said and ran out of the room doing seventy.

The Hawks and Superman showed relief at this news, only the grim Batman failed to show any emotion, even though he too was glad that they could now discover what happened to their friend. Flash got busy in the darkroom and in seconds had the equipment loaded to develop his pictures. Barry Allen was a police forensic scientist and had made as detailed an investigation as he could in the magician's mansion, obtaining a camera to take the photos that would help his colleagues examine what he believed to be a crime scene.

"Come on, hurry," he muttered as he washed the prints. Flash's super-speed could hurry up part of the developing process, but there were still some things that took time. Flash took the prints out of the bath and carefully shook them dry. A glance at a clock told him that the whole process had taken almost a minute! To him, that was a LONG time!

Barry then went back into the main hall leisurely (IE: as fast as an Olympic sprinter) to rejoin the others. He began his report just as Green Lantern was returning from a mission.

"Here you are," Flash began, laying out the eight-by-ten pictures. "You can see what I did. As far as I could tell, nothing was disturbed in the main part of the mansion, but I found something unusual in an oddly decorated, isolated room."

He laid out several pictures of the room in question for inspection. Batman scanned the pictures and immediately knew what it was for.

"A pentagram and candles on the floor," he observed. "It's a room for working magic."

"Zatanna told Shera and I about that room, once." Hawkman offered. "She tests magical devices there."

"She calls it her 'Safe Room'," added Hawkgirl. "If anything goes wrong, the energy would be contained."

"It looks like something DID go wrong!" Green Lantern said, pointing at the mess in the photograph.

"Books and candles were scattered all over the place," Flash told him. "God, I hope Zatanna didn't blow herself up!"

"She didn't," Batman said quietly. "Look closer at these pictures; the books and other things have been flung to to one side, near the door. One of the candles has been knocked over, while two others have been snuffed out. However, the remaining two candles remained lit and have burned themselves out. These things are too random for an explosion, they are more likely the signs that Zatanna had been FIGHTING someone!"

"Then she must have lost!" Superman exclaimed.

"But that means that she had been kidnapped!" GL added. "Who could take her down, even it was by surprise?"

"She has some very powerful enemies," Kal El reminded him.

Hawkgirl spoke up, "We have some Thangaran detection devices, Hawkman, Batman and I should go to the Zatara mansion to search for clues. We may find out where she was taken."

"We'll take the batcopter," Batman said as he turned and trotted out the room to the helipad out back.

As Batman and the Hawks left the room, a boy and a girl of about fourteen years came in from the reception area. They were Marvin Grey and Wendy Harris, the son of the woman who sold Wonder Woman her identity and the daughter of a private detective who helped train Batman. The JLA had agreed to train them not only to repay their debt to the kids' parents, but for the fact that Marvin occasionally showed some levitation abilities and Wendy was developing latent telepathic powers. They were followed by a man who had the air of a plain-clothes detective about him and an envelope in his hand.

"Superman, this man is here to deliver a message," Wendy reported.

"But he won't turn it over to anyone but you," Marvin added, a little insulted. "He says that it's urgent.

Superman was about to tell the man to let the two kids have the message (It was their job to handle such things, after all) but decided to see what it was about since they couldn't do anything about the Zatanna affair until the Hawks and Batman reported in.

"Thank you Marvin, Wendy. What can we do for you?"

"My name's Josh Randall, I work for the Pinkerton Detective Agency," the sandy haired man began. "And this envelope has been a closely guarded secret at the agency for many years. Most of us have heard about it, but the general belief is that it's a hoax, I mean, how could a telegram that's been sitting in the director's safe for over fifty years be addressed to the Justice League?"

"Oh great," Flash moaned. "That means a time traveler. They're such a pain!"

"No one knows who it's from, only that a telegram instructed us to deliver it no earlier or no later than today."

"We'll take it," Superman told their visitor. "Anything else we can do for you?"

"I just want to use your phone to call in. I was told to report as soon as I put the thing in your hands," he said, turning to leave.

Looking through the envelope with his x-ray vision set on low, Superman told the other heroes that there was another, smaller envelope inside. Tearing it open, they examined the inner envelope, which proved to have been stamped by the Metropolis Western Union office on October 25, 1933! Superman opened the missive and read it quickly, his eyes widening.

"Who's it from, Superman," asked Marvin.

"Get on the radio, Marvin and tell Batman to return to head quarters," Kal El commanded. "We found Zatanna!"

Marvin was about to say something dumb, but instead did as he was told. Wendy spoke up first.

"Where is she? Does the letter say where she is?"

"This telegram is FROM Zatanna," Supes told the JLA. He began to read it aloud. "...Safe but trapped in past STOP Send GL to Smallville train station this date STOP Bring old coins STOP Z..."

"Why does she want old coins?" Green Lantern asked.

"Maybe Zatanna has to pay for the telegrams," 'Super Marv' piped up.

Wendy gave him a long-suffering look and Flash rolled his eyes. No one wanted to say so, but Marvin was probably right! Green Lantern decided to go before Marvin said something REALLY stupid.

"I'll charge my power ring before I go. I know where to get a few silver dollars that can be used in the early Thirties," he explained and flew down the hall to where his power battery was currently kept.

SMALLVILLE, KANSAS. Many years ago.

Hal Jordan, known as the Green Lantern, Materialized behind a shed near the Smallville train station. Superman had given him pictures and information on his hometown and they decided that this was the best place to appear. Instead of his usual green and black uniform, Hal was dressed like the archaeologist, Dr. Henry "Indiana" Jones whose exploits had been made famous in a trio of movies based on his adventures. Hopefully, it would let the hero blend in with the natives as he looked for his missing team-mate.

GL entered the train station and looked around. Should he ask if anyone had seen Zee, he thought, or just look for awhile? He didn't have to do either because he saw a mass of long black hair that stood out boldly from the short hair styles favored by women in the current era. Even though she was wearing an old fashioned dress and her back was turned to him, Hal recognized his friend who was seated at the lunch counter, eating a grilled cheese sandwich. Hal walked over and reached out to tap Zee on the shoulder.

"Hello, Hal," She said before he could touch her, causing the blond beside her to laugh.

"I should have known better than to try to surprise a..." he cut himself off and glanced at Nancy Drew. "I mean... uh..."

"Sit down and order something, Hal," Nancy suggested. "Zatanna didn't do anything magical, she saw you in the mirror behind the shelves."

Startled by the word "magical", Green Lantern tried to end the situation and get Zee home.

"Come along, darling. My car is outside and the children miss you terribly," he said, taking her by the elbow.

"And there were two more born while you were away," Nancy said in a dramatic voice, almost causing her chum to do a spit-take. "Do sit down and have a bite to eat, you can't get to where you're going in a car!"

There was something about this woman that made Green Lantern nervous. It wasn't that he considered her dangerous, there was just something in her words and that knowing smile that made him want to get away quickly.

"Do you mind? This is between my wife and myself!"

"Is he really your husband, Zatanna?"

"Golly, I don't remember, dear," she said with a wink. "I have so many, it's hard to keep track of them all. How are things in the harem, sweetheart?" She said to the superhero.

"Zatanna, we got your telegram," he whispered. "Now let's go!"

"Nancy, your idea worked! Hal, may I present Nancy Drew? Nancy, this is my friend and team-mate, Hal Jordan."

"How do you do, Mister Jordan?"

"How do... Nancy Drew? I thought you were a fictional character."

"Only on week-ends," Nancy sighed. She had a feeling that if her friendship with Zatanna continued, she would be hearing that a lot! "Did you bring the coins?"

"The coins? Yes, here they are," Hal said, dipping a hand into his pocket to retrieve the money. "What do you need them for?"

Nancy took the coins and counted out two silver dollars, two half dollars, a dime and three nickels. Signaling the cook, she paid the check and pocketed the rest.

"I had put seven dollars in my pocket last night and that was just enough for a ride and the telegrams. I had to transfer funds from my bank account to pay the Pinkertons for holding the telegram until the proper time. To be honest, it was Zatanna who explained a trick that gave me the idea."

"You're still the best girl detective in the world, Nancy," Zee said feelingly.

"I'm the best in Riverheights, that's for sure!"

Green Lantern was getting nervous. Obviously Nancy Drew knew that they were from the future. He had to get Zatanna back home and also think of what to do about this other woman. He took the women by their arms and led them to the exit.

"We have to go now," he said firmly.

"Hal, I promised that I would take Nancy home before I left."

"All right, but not here. Let's find someplace private."

Hal Jordan led them behind a building and levitated them into the air. Once they were moving in the direction Zatanna indicated, he formed the ring's energy into a bi-plane since a green ball of energy traveling at the speed of sound or greater would be noticed and talked about, but an airplane flying at over a hundred miles an hour would hardly be noticed. As a test pilot, this means of travel was natural to Hal and he had even made the standard controls for the plane. Zatanna and Nancy sat in the front cockpit of the imitation Travel Aire, chatting happily while GL sat behind them, silently pondering the consequences of Zatanna's carelessness in confiding in Nancy Drew. They were going to have to do something about her!

When the Muskoka river was in sight, they followed it for awhile until Zatanna signaled Hal that she would take over. With the words "Ycnan, Lah dna I tropolet ot s'Ycnan draykcab" they vanished and reappeared behind the Drew home.

"Home again, home again, jiggety jig," Nancy sang happily.

"Zatanna, what are you going to do about her?" GL asked pointedly.

"What do you mean?"

"We can't leave her like this!"

"Would you two mind letting me into your conversation?" Nancy demanded.

"Hal, what are you suggesting?"

"You know damn well what I mean," Hal said sharply.

Zatanna's face fell as she glanced at Nancy Drew. "Nancy can be trusted."

"Can she? What if she tells somebody by accident? Just how much DID you tell her?"

"What are you talking about? You keep talking about me like I'm not even here!"

"It's all right, Nancy," Zee assured her. "Nothing's wrong."

"Are you going to tell her or will I?" GL demanded. "Never mind, I'll do it," he announced, raising his right fist so the ring pointed at Nancy's head.

"NO!" The magician cried, grabbing his wrist. "Please Hal, I'll do it! I'll do it."

"Zatanna?" Nancy said quietly, whatever they were going to do, Nancy was sure that it wasn't going to be pleasant.

Zatanna took Nancy's arm and led her to a stone bench near where the Lilacs had bloomed and a pigeon had fallen to announce the start of a mystery. Zatanna didn't want to do this and hoped that Nancy would understand.

"Nancy, it's my fault. I told you too much about myself, the JLA and the future. That knowledge would be dangerous in the wrong hands."

"I won't tell anyone, I promise."

Zatanna looked into those blue eyes and saw the trust in them. Nancy wasn't making it any easier.

"Nancy... oh Nancy, it's not that easy. I know you will keep your word, but something might happen to make you tell. I know you won't use your knowledge of the future for selfish reasons, but the temptation would still be there! What if you thought you could prevent a disaster or save someone's life using what I told you? What if Rando comes back and reads your mind?"

"I see what you mean, Zatanna. But what can we do? I can't just snap my fingers and forget all that's happened."

Zatanna turned away in shame.

"We can," she said softly.

"Oh."

"I don't want to do it, Nancy. I like you a lot and I value your friendship as much as any I ever had. I'm sorry."

Nancy's hand gently took hold of the heroine's.

"I don't want to forget you, Zatanna. I knew that there was something special about you the moment I spoke to you," the detective said softly. "It wasn't your magic, it was something in your attitude, something that told me that you cared. I felt a kinship with you, it was as if I had just found the sister I never had. I've never met anyone quite like you Zatanna, and I don't want to forget you."

"I don't want to forget you either," Zee returned. "I idolized you as a girl and when I became a superhero, I often thought about you. You were always so brave and caring and I wanted to live up to that example. You won't forget about me Nancy, but I have to make you forget about who and what I am."

They hugged for last time, breaking away reluctantly.

"I'm ready," Nancy whispered.

Zatanna raised her hands and commanded Nancy to relax. Using her backwards spells, Zatanna asked Nancy to open her mind and let her "adjust" her memories so that her friend would have false memories that were only slightly like the reality. Sadly, Zee rose from the bench and stood beside Green Lantern. Nancy would revive after they left.

"You had to do it, you know," Hal said to ease her conscious.

"I know, but I don't have to like it."

"No, you don't," he agreed.

Zee voiced her magic again and her costume appeared on her body. A green ball then surrounded the two and they vanished...

...to reappear in the Hall Of Justice, years in the future.

Zatanna was instantly surrounded by her friends who demanded that she tell them of her adventures. Zatanna waved them off, saying that she was tired and needed to rest from her ordeal. Green Lantern watched her go to the room that was reserved for her, knowing how hard it was for the gentle sorceress to play such a dirty trick on a friend, even if it was to save the world. She'll get over it, he decided. Zee was a professional.

RIVERHEIGHTS. 1933.

Nancy opened her eyes, feeling well rested.

"Oh my, I must have dozed off!" She decided.

Returning to the house, Nancy smiled over another job well done. Zatanna was now on her way home with that nice Mister Jordan where her friends waited to welcome her. Nancy hoped that she would write her once she got there, because Nancy had forgotten to ask where she lived! Oh well, no matter, I'll never see her again.

Nancy paused on the staircase with a frown. Why did she feel a sense of LOSS just then?

Shaking the feeling off Nancy continued to her bedroom where she began taking off her dress in preparation for taking a shower. It was then that she noticed a photograph and a flower on her bed. Curious, Nancy picked them up and smiled. Zatanna had left her a publicity photo of herself in a tuxedo, leaning on a prop that Nancy assumed that the woman used in her act. Nancy Drew brought the flower to her nose and inhaled the fragrance of the Forget-Me-Not.

And remembered.

THE END

FINAL NOTE: Of course that's not the last adventure Nancy and Zatanna had together! Perhaps it was a side-effect of Zatanna's trip, but it was later discovered that the two eras were linked and the same amount of time passed in bother eras. Zee would make many trips back into the past, sometimes several times a year. Nancy taught Zee some tricks of the detective trade and Zatanna instructed Nancy in the occult. Most of the time they just visited, but there were a few adventures to be had and in one, Nancy and Zatanna made the same wish that caused them to SWITCH BODYS! While Zatanna investigated the mystery of the whispering statue in England, Nancy Drew headed the JLA, tried to figure out how to react to Elongated Man's teasing and tried to work spells. (Their friends noticed that something was odd about her, Green Arrow even told Black Canary that he thought that Zatanna had been "pulling too many rabbits out of her hat!")

All in all, the two friends lived their lives as they always did, having adventures and enjoying life until one day, the Justice League discovered a SPY in their midst...


End file.
